The Other Woman
by JadeElephant
Summary: After the war, everyone's back at Hogwart and Hermione and Draco are assigned Head Boy and Girl. HG/DM DM/PP rated M for later chapters EWE?
1. Chapter 1

Hermione stormed into the Griffindor common room, slamming the portrait behind her. A group of first years who had been playing exploding snap near the portrait hole became suddenly silent and watched the brunette cross the room to her small group of friends. She sat down roughly in between Harry and Ginny, breaking the cuddling couple apart. Harry was about to comment, but saw the expression on Hermione's face and backed off immediately.  
"Hermione, what's wrong? Why aren't you in the head's dormitory?" Ginny asked as gently as she could.  
"If I have to spend another millisecond with that insufferable PRICK I will personally brew him a special batch of a certain potion and slip it into his morning pumpkin juice!"  
Harry, Ron and Ginny stared in silence.  
"'Mione, what happened?" Ron asked, ready to bust the skulls of some Slytherins.  
But Hermione couldn't tell them, she knew the reaction it would cause and they would only cause more drama, something she did not need. So she answered with something they would all believe,  
"I'm just sick and tired of Mr. Pure Blood prancing around the castle like he's so big and bad and the ruler of everyone and everything!" Her friends tsk-ed in response with variations of  
"Freaking Malfoy..." or "Bloody prick..."  
Hermione sighed and looked at the magic clock above the huge fireplace in the common room. It was well past curfew, the prefects seem to be slacking off with the absence of the head girl's regular inspections. She had assumed that the Gryffindor would uphold the rules posted on the bulletin board, but once again, Hermione saw that all the work was left to her.  
Sighing, she stood up, "Well thanks for letting me vent you guys, but I've got to get these first years to bed, and you should head up too, if you know what's good for you." The 3 knew better than to argue with Hermione when she was in this kind of mood so they reluctantly headed up their respective staircases towards their dorm rooms.  
After ushering the first years upstairs, Hermione stood in front of the fire, but she still felt cold. She looked around the room to make sure she was alone, and when she was convinced enough, she pulled the small bit of parchment from her pocket.

_Hermione, _it read  
_you know that I love you, but I can't leave her. My parents would never rest if they discovered what was going on between you and me, so I think that it's better if we keep our love a secret. This past semester has been the best I've ever experienced in all of my years at Hogwarts and I want it to continue. You and Pansy are the two most important girls in my life and I couldn't imagine life without either of you. But I want to make sure that you know, I do love you. The situation is just...complicated and until I can figure something out, we'll have to keep it the way it is. I can't leave Pansy because of our arranged marriage, and she's possibly the oldest friend that I know, she has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Asking me to choose between the two of you is like asking me to choose between air and water, I can't survive without either. _  
_I know the incident this morning was nothing but an innocent display of affection, but you must know that it can never happen again in public. I have managed to kill the rumor before it spread, so we may continue our relationship in the privacy of the head's dorms. _  
_With love, always, _  
_Draco_

Hermione didn't realize that she had been crying as she read the note for the 100th time, and felt ashamed for doing so in a place where she could so easily be caught. The "incident" that Malfoy had referred to was nothing more than Hermione holding his hand while on their way to breakfast. Hermione smiled, despite herself, at the memory of Malfoy's smile before he realized where they were. Panicking, he threw her hand down and spat at the floor in front of her,  
"Don't touch me with your filthy hands, Mudblood." and walked past the crowds of people watching into the Great hall, leaving Hermione shocked and teary-eyed. She had skipped breakfast, and even her classes, to spend the day in her bed, crying. But as soon as the final bell rang, and all classes were over, she made sure to get out of dodge and out of the castle to avoid seeing him. Because she knew he would try and apologize and play it off as some sort of foreplay. While avoiding his typical route from classes, she made her way down to Hagrid's hut, to find Buckbeak, who had returned to Hagrid after the war. She spent the rest of the night sitting and thinking and petting the huge beast on the edge of the lake. When she realized it was already dark out, she headed back up to the castle, stopped by the kitchens for a snack, and headed upstairs, a plan already formulated in her mind if someone were to ask where she had been all day. She was going to say that she had been asked to manage some of the cataloging for the library, which, being the head girl was a duty that was asked of her often. But now as she stood over the fire in the Gryffindor common room, Hermione didn't know how she was going to keep up her act of indifference around Malfoy. She hated him for having the effect on her. She hated him for being able to calm her down with one embrace, hated how he sent chills up and down her spine each time they spoke. She hated how he looked when he woke up beside her, smiling a smile that precious few had ever seen. She hated how he made her love him. But more than all of that, she hated the hold that Pansy had over him. He would never leave her if he could help it. They had been together for almost 5 years as a couple and been friends for even longer. So what's the harm in becoming friends again? It would be easier than pretending to hate the one you love.  
Hermione had spent countless nights forming ideas on how to break the two up, but could think of nothing. It all came down to family and the duty that resided there. Since before they were born, Pansy and Draco had been promised to each other, along with a sizeable dowry. If one family swayed in the deal, it would cause a feud that on its own could rival the war. The break up would have to be mutual, but Hermione couldn't think of a way to go about this.  
She hated being the "other woman" but she was left with virtually no choice. Especially since it was Draco who made the first move.

*****************************************************************************************  
(Flashback!)  
Being the head boy and head girl, Draco and Hermione had to share the dormitory given to the two with the title. There was a common room, a small kitchen, a bathroom and two separate rooms up two separate staircases. Even with avoiding each other as much as possible, the two quickly realized that they would have to become civil with one another if they were to survive the school year. And as the semester continued, they actually became friends, though they would never admit it to anyone. Their friendship had been dancing on the edge of danger for a while when it happened. Hermione had been sitting in the head's dormitory reading a large volume she had borrowed from the library. Draco had been in the shower after a particularly muddy quiditch practice and called Hermione to the bathroom. Confused at his request, Hermione walked to the hallway outside the bathroom.  
"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked through the door  
"Could you grab me a towel from the linen closet? I forgot to grab one." came the reply through the door.  
"Honestly." Hermione sighed and grabbed a towel from the closet, but when she turned around, the bathroom door was wide open, and there stood Draco, in all his glory, completely naked. Hermione stood there shocked, looking at his gorgeous body when she realized exactly WHAT she was looking at and the smirk that had appeared on his face. She threw the towel at him and felt her face flush as she turned away.  
"Malfoy...what the hell...!" She sputtered, face still flushed. Malfoy chuckled behind her.  
"It's ok Granger, I'm covered. Well partially anyway. Turn around." Slowly, Hermione turned back around, particularly interested in an imperfection in the wall beside the bathroom door. Malfoy chuckled again,  
"I never thought I'd see the day when famous was speechless."  
"Shut up! I'm not speechless! I...just...have nothing to say!" Hermione said, still staring at the wall. Malfoy gently grabbed her chin and brought her face around to face his and said,  
"Well, since you have nothing to say, let's give your mouth something to do, hm?" And he softly kissed her lips, placing his hand on her jawline and the other on the small of her back, drawing her closer. Hermione was too shocked to do anything at first except stand there like an idiot, but she was soon intoxicated by his kiss. Her hands snaked their way up his damp, hard chest to his hair, where her fingers interlocked into his blonde hair. After a moment, Draco broke away and touched his forehead to hers,  
"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that." He said. And Hermione then realized, she had wanted him to as well. How long had that desire been there? All she knew was that it was perfect and didn't care.


	2. Chapter 2

**Please R&R!**

Remembering that day made Hermione furious. If Draco had never kissed her, she would have never realized her feelings for him and none of this would have happened. She would be laughing with Harry and Ron and maybe even still perusing the oblivious Ron. But in the instant that Draco kissed her, she was a goner. Since that day, every moment that they were alone was like discovering an entire new section of the library for Hermione. Exciting, exhilarating and unknown. She wanted to absorb everything about him, know everything and be with him as much as she could. Of course, there were times, even in their own common room, that they had to act as if nothing was happening. When friends would visit, because the head's dorm was admittedly a lot better than the houses', they would have to act like they were simply civil roommates. However, they would tease each other across the room with little signs that only the two of them recognized. Pointing out a certain pillow that had been involved in the previous night's activities or even flirting with Ron, or in Draco's case, Pansy. Usually when Hermione would flirt with Ron, the second that the portrait door closed as the Gryfindor's left, Draco had Hermione pinned against the wall, ready to unleash himself on her.  
"That wasn't very fair, bookworm." He would breathe into her neck as she arched it to give him more access.  
"What was? I have no idea what you are talking about." She would tease, but usually at this point, Draco would bring his mouth to her neck and cause her to go weak at the knees. He would tease her with his tongue until he found that one spot on her neck that was her switch, and he would bite it. Almost instantly, her body would arch into his and Draco knew that she was his once again. Hermione shook her head, remembering all of the wonderful things he could do would not help getting over him. Staring at the parchment in her hand, she crumpled it up and threw it into the fire. As the paper burned, the ink turned green, then finally discentegrated into ash.  
Sighing, Hermione made her way out of the Gryffindor common room and out into the corridor of the castle. The Heads' dorm was a fair distance away, but it gave Hermione more time to prepare herself. Using her wand to light the way, she came across the portrait of the heads' dorm and muttered the password. Without a sound, it swung open and she stepped through into the dimly lit room.  
Hermione sniffed the air, it smelled like...jasmine? And there was definitely candle-light up ahead. Hermione's heart started beating rapidly, preparing for what she was about to see, but when she rounded the corner, it wasn't quite the image she had in mind, sprawled on the floor in front of the fireplace was Draco, which she was expecting, but he wasn't alone. He was with Pansy, and they were doing it. Draco was mid-thrust when he heard a noise and looked up quickly to see Hermione standing in the doorway, pain clearly across her face.  
"Hermi-er, Granger! What are you-?" he sputtered, but she just ran past the couple up the spiraling staircase up to her private room.  
"Granger?" He called, worried.  
"Shut up you prick! And focus on the girl you're inside of! I swear to Merlin! Who cares about the little bookworm mudblood anyways?" Pansy snorted. Draco resisted to urge to defend Hermione and finished fucking Pansy. When he was done, he rolled over and closed his eyes, his mind in turmoil. He felt a finger tracing the muscles on his chest and couldn't help but smile and open his eyes to see Pansy grinning at him.  
"That was fun Drakey, but I've got to make sure those 4th years are doing my essay correctly. I'll see you tomorrow, nighty night." She leaned over and kissed him on the lips as she grabbed his member, making him jump. She grinned and magicked her clothes back on and sauntered out the door. He would never get used to that girl, he realized. But once she was through the portrait hole, he had other things to worry about; he quickly put on his pants and jogged up the stairs to Hermione's room.  
Standing outside the door, he took a deep breath, wary of what was about to come. True, he could have handled the incident that morning better, but he had reverted to instincts, to the way his father had beaten him into, and he regretted saying those words. But at the same time, he knew that it was completely necessary. He knocked on the door. No response. He knocked again. Again, no response. He knocked a third time,  
"Hermione? Come on, baby, open up." He pleaded as he rested his head on the door. Suddenly, the door flung open and Hermione was standing there, furious, and looking ready to perform an unforgivable on Draco,  
"Baby? BABY? What RIGHT do YOU have to call ME baby! You insolent piece of trash!" She screamed as she slammed her door back shut, hitting Draco in the head as she did so.  
"Look, Hermione, I'm sorry, it had to be done, you know how my parents are...how they would react...and besides I could never hurt Pansy." ...idiot. Malfoy thought to himself.  
"OH SO YOU COULDN'T HURT YOUR PRECIOUS PANSY BUT YOU'RE PERFECTLY FINE HURTING ME? OH YEAH THAT MAKES SENSE! JUST DUMP ALL THE PAIN ONTO THE MUDBLOOD!" Hermione screamed through the door.  
"Look, I said I'm sorry. What else can I do?" Draco pleaded. The door opened silently.  
"You can break up with her." Hermione said. But Draco just hung his head,  
"You know I can't, 'Mione."  
"Then we have nothing to talk about" She said as she closed and locked the door in his face.  
Rage built inside of Draco, he grabbed a vase in the stairwell and threw it against the wall.  
"YOU KNOW, THIS ISN'T EXACTLY EASY FOR ME EITHER! DID YOU EVER THINK OF THAT! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO! I LOVE YOU BOTH AND I CAN'T CHOOSE BETWEEN YOU! IT WOULD KILL ME! GODDAMMIT!" He threw another vase.  
No response came from the other side of the door, only silence. Draco punched the stone wall in front of him and felt two of his fingers crack. Cursing, he grabbed his hand feebly, cradling the injury.  
"...I really am sorry Hermione. I wish it could be different." he said quietly, thinking she was already asleep. But she wasn't, she had heard every word, and was silently crying with her back to the door, waiting for him to leave the stairway. When she heard him start down the stairs, and finally, heard the shower going, she began to sob.

She wanted to punch him, to hurt him, to cause as much pain in him as she was experiencing. But she could never do that, not really. The next morning, she woke up with a headache from crying herself to sleep. She sat up and grabbed a potion out of her bedside table for morning grogginess and headaches. It was typically used for hangovers, but it worked for all sorts of ailments, she had discovered. She put her face in her hands as she remembered the events that had occurred the day before and took a deep breath. She couldn't show that much weakness to him again. Losing her temper only showed him how much she was hurt, and she couldn't let him see that. Vowing to herself to maintain her composure, she got out of bed and began getting ready for the day.

Draco woke up in pain, terrible pain. At first he thought it was all mental, the effects of stress and guilt all piled up into one flaming heap of emotion, and then he remembered his hand. It had swollen to about two times the normal size over night and two of his fingers were definitely broken. He sat in bed for a couple minutes, deciding what to do. He very much wanted to just curl back up and go back to sleep, forgetting all troubles he had, but he had to have his hand looked at. Sighing, he carefully got out of bed and got dressed. He grabbed his Slytherin tie and stopped, realizing he couldn't tie it. He decided to let it hang loosely around the collar of his shirt, attempting to look aloof. He was as ready as he was going to be, so he took a deep breath and walked down the stairs to the common room.

Hermione was already there, and from the looks of it, she had been there a while. She had stacks upon stacks of books out; mostly all of them already read and cast aside, the others open to her perusing. On top of that, it seemed as if she had taken extra time that morning on her looks, Draco noticed. Not that he cared, he thought she was beautiful normally, but this was something else. Her long curly brown hair had been tamed into soft curls that cascaded down her shoulders and her eyelashes looked especially long and thick over her honey color eyes. She had opted to wear her white Hogwarts button up blouse, without the sweater vest, and her plaid Gryffindor mini skirt. She had the tip of her quill in her mouth, as she often did while she was thinking, and the leg she had crossed over the other was bouncing to an unheard beat.  
"Morning" Draco ventured hesitantly. She looked up from her parchment after a moment, her mind still focused on whatever she was writing, to see Draco, and her eyes cleared.

She looked up from proof reading her potions essay for the third time to see him standing surprisingly closer than she realized. She had heard him get up, but was so immersed in her paper hadn't realized that he was standing in front of her. She let her eyes gaze over his figure. He was wearing black jeans and a white dress shirt. His tie was untied, which was odd, he rarely wore it that way, that's when she noticed his hand. It was purple and swollen to double its normal size. She gasped and reached for it, but before she touched him, he withdrew his hand.  
"Sorry, it's just kinda...sore." He explained.  
"Sore, my arse! Let me see that!" Hermione ordered. Reluctantly, he held out his hand for Hermione to inspect.  
"Well if you hadn't let it get so swollen I could have done something for it, but now you're just gonna have to go see Madame Pomfrey." She sighed.  
"Yeah, I was afraid of that." Draco sighed. How was he going to explain that? 'How did it happen? Oh well you see, the girl I love walked on me doing the other girl I love, which caused some drama, which resulted in me punching a wall.' Draco groaned and Hermione's eyes flashed.  
"I did the best I could, Malfoy." she said icily.  
"No! That wasn't about that, I was just thinking, well, yeah...But it wasn't about you!" Draco stammered. No one else could get him tripping over his words quite like she could.  
"Just make sure to go to the hospital wing, BEFORE breakfast." Hermione said as she picked up her bag and headed down to the great hall.  
Draco sighed, 'Well that could have gone a lot worse.' He thought to himself.


	3. Chapter 3

**hey guys! **

**this one's a little longer, just had to get this idea down i guess haha i tried to space this one out better, i hope it's easier to read!**

**please r&r!**

Hermione made her way down to breakfast, lost in thoughts of Draco's unkept blonde hair falling into his eyes, the way that he shook it out of his eyes, only to have them fall right back. His powerful storm cloud blue eyes that could hold her captive for hours. The way his strong quiditch playing arms flexed as he picked up his books. She was thoroughly enjoying a certain memory of Draco when she ran into a first year and was ripped from her daydream. Only then did she remember she was furious at him. She apologized to the frightened first year and made her way down to the Gryffindor table.

She quickly found Ginny, Harry and Ron eating breakfast. She was making a bee line for them when she felt a hand on her arm. Turning around, she saw whose hand it was and her heart froze. It was Pansy.  
"I just wanted to let you know, we're cool. I know it must be hard to live with someone you have a crush on. So it's ok." She said, and walked away, leaving Hermione feeling like a terrified idiot. She stood there for a moment, catching up to speed on what just occurred then flushed and sped to her seat.

"What was that all about?" Ginny whispered. The boys were discussing some sort of game and were completely oblivious to the world outside of their conversation. Even still, it was better to talk quietly, in case they overheard and wanted to know too. The less people who knew, the better.

"I'll tell you after breakfast...in the girls' dorm." Hermione whispered, motioning with her eyes towards the boys. Ginny nodded and started talking about makeup, something that if the boys did overhear, they wouldn't have the slightest interest in at all. Ginny winked as she talked about the differences between eggplant and deep purple eyeliner. Hermione was glad that her best friend was Ginny.  
After a hurried breakfast, the two girls started towards the dorm rooms.

"Oi! Where are you two heading?" Ron asked, curiously.

"To my room Ronald! Mind your own business!" Ginny answered without turning around.

"To do what?" Ron asked, even more intrigued. Ginny stopped dead and her eyes flashed with fire, she spun around and said,

"Well actually Ron, we were going upstairs to grab some tampons, you know? For our PERIODS? MENSTRATION CYCLE. UTERUS."

She was about to continue when Ron's face paled and he murmured something about finding Harry for a game of wizarding chess and sulked away. Hermione and Ginny laughed and continued up the stairs to the dorms.  
Once the assured that the room was vacant and safe for secrets (compliments of a special spell Ginny discovered herself) the girls sat on Ginny's bed.

"OK, spill."  
Hermione sighed and told her what had happened the previous morning and then what Pansy had said that morning at breakfast.

"Well that's dumb, ignore Pansy, she's a total bitch anyway. But wait, why did you grab Malfoy's hand in the first place?" Ginny asked, the gears working in her head.

"I...um..." Hermione struggled to think of a plausible reason to give Ginny but could think of none other than the fact that she was deeply in love with him. Ginny stared at her and Hermione felt her face flush and her ears get hot.

"YOU TOTALLY LOVE HIM!" Ginny nearly screamed.

"GINNY SHHHHHH!" Hermione tried to calm her down.

"YOU DO! OH STOP THAT I CHARMED THE ROOM REMEMBER?" Ginny said in response to Hermione trying to cover her mouth. Hermione sighed.

"So when did this happen? I can't believe you kept this from me!" Ginny play hit Hermione on the shoulder.

"I don't know...a while ago I guess? It all kinda happened really...fast...and yea..." Hermione managed to get out.

"This totally makes you the other woman!"Ginny exclaimed, "ooooh man if I could see Pansy's face..."

"NO Ginny! You can't tell ANYONE. Period. No one. It would only cause trouble."

"Opposed to the peaceful happy drama-free land you're living in now? ohhh yeah, we wouldn't want to ruin that!" Ginny teased

"You don't understand Ginny! I can't be WITH him but I can't be WITHOUT him so right now, the situation is the best it's gonna get. "

"I'm sorry Hermione, "Ginny hugged her," we'll figure something out, even if I think you might be a little off in your choice of guy, I have to admit, he is pretty hot."

Hermione laughed, "That he is...that he is..." The girls started laughing once more.

"So wait, have you done it yet?" Ginny asked, totally serious.

Hermione felt her face flush at the mention of sex and she knew she had given herself away. Ginny whooped and started singing,

"Hermione and Dracooo sitting in a tree! F-U-C-K-I-N-G!" Which caused the girls to start laughing once more and they didn't' stop for a while.

Feeling a little better now that the secret wasn't hers alone to bear, Hermione made her way down to class with Ginny. Hermione met up with Harry and Ron and said goodbye to Ginny as she made her way to her class. Next class was herbology with the Hufflepuffs, so no real danger of running into Draco to Hermione's relief. She chatted with Harry and Ron on their way out to the greenhouses and was feeling even better. The three took their seats and waited for the rest of the students to trickle in.

Finally, when everyone had arrived, Professor Sprout began lecturing about the strange plant in front of the students.

"Now class, remember, this is a strange plant to work with, and if you have an allergy to it, it reacts most quickly and painfully. If you are unfortunate enough to possess this allergy, there are gloves in the back for your use. Now, the instructions are on the board, you may begin."

There was a shuffling of papers and bags, and the sound of many stools being pushed back as students began inspecting the strange plant.

"How are we supposed to know if we're allergic to it?" Harry asked quizzically.

"Didn't you get tested for it when you were young?" Ron asked. Both Harry and Hermione shook their heads. "Oh well I guess, being muggleborns, you wouldn't have. Well I'm not allergic if that helps?"

"Oh yes, Ron, that helps a ton." Hermione said sarcastically. Ron smiled feebly, seemingly missing the sarcasm in her voice.

"Well, only one way to find out, I suppose." Harry said as he reached forward, bare handed and broke one of the leaves into his hand, letting the natural oils fall over his skin.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed and grabbed the leaf out of his hand, "That could be dangerous! What if it turns out you are allergic!" Harry shrugged,

"We'll soon find out won't we? And look who's talking, Miss. I think I'll just grab this plant I just yelled at Harry for holding!" Hermione looked down at her hand, she hadn't even thought about what she was doing when she grabbed the sticky plant out of Harry's hand, and now her hand was starting to slowly turn purple.

"Oh great. That's just bloody brilliant" Hermione sighed, "Oh knock it off you two!" she yelled at the boys for laughing at the irony. "I'll see you later I suppose." Hermione picked up her bag carefully and showed Professor Sprout her hand.

"Oh dear, I should have told you muggleborns I had an allergy kit in the back…oh well, can't do much now, here's a note for the hospital wing. Class! If you have not been tested on wacksford root, please join me at the front for allergy testing, we don't all want to end up like , now do we?"

Hermione cursed Professor Sprout's forgetfulness under her breath as she made her way past the students who were going to the front to be tested. She passed her work bench and waved a very swollen and lumpy hand at Harry and Ron who were still laughing. She reminded herself to try that new spell out on them later.

It was a beautiful day outside, the sky was bright blue and the lake seemed to be made of glass. There were fire red birds flying around the edge of the forbidden forest and Buckbeak was eyeing them carefully. He snapped at one, but as he did, it turned into a ball of fire and burnt his tongue. When he opened his mouth in surprise, the little bird flew out and away as quickly as it could, leaving Buckbeak with a sore tongue. Hermione smiled at the beast's surprise and began walking faster up the hill; her hand was really starting to hurt.

By the time she had made it to the infirmary, Hermione's hand looked comically big and felt like someone was slowly cutting off her fingers with a blunt blade. She showed it to Madame Pomfrey and she immediately brought her to a bed and began putting a type of lotion on her hand.

"Leave it to Pomona to forget to tell you muggleborns if you're allergic or not." She grumbled as she bandaged Hermione's hand.

"How long will it take to heal, do you think?" Hermione asked.

"Just give it a couple hours poppet, should be good as new." Madame Pomfrey said, distracted, as she scribbled onto a piece of parchment. "Alright, I'll be in my office, just call if you need anything."

"Thank you." Hermione said as she walked away. She sighed and lay back onto her pillow, hoping to catch a few z's while she was in here.

But no sooner had Hermione closed her eyes than she heard the metallic sound of a privacy curtain being moved and the squeaking of the old mattresses in the hospital wing.

"I thought she'd never shut up." Said an all too familiar voice from the bed beside Hermione. Her breath caught in her lungs and she had to remind herself to breathe. Slowly, she sat up and opened her eyes.

"Hello Malfoy." She attempted to say civilly.

"Ouch, pulling the last name card. That's ok, it reminds of the last time you called me that, only then I think you were screaming it…" Draco smirked. Hermione rolled her eyes and tried to push that wonderful memory out of her mind.

"Is your hand feeling better?" Hermione asked, careful not to use either of his names.

"Yea, it's actually been feeling fine for a while." Draco said, looking at his bandaged hand.

"Then why are you still here?" Hermione asked.

"Hey, when life says 'here you go Draco, have a day off of classes, and oh by the way, here's a note excusing you' you don't usually pass it up." Draco smiled, "And look what else fate has given me! One of my most favorite people in the world is sitting on the bed right next to mine! What happened to your hand?"

"Apparently, I'm allergic to wacksford root." Hermione said sadly, inspecting her poor hand. The pain had already started going down with the help of the medicine.

"Ouch, I hate that stuff, I'm really allergic, and when I was 8 I ran through a whole field of it. That was not a week I care to remember." Draco said.

"I can imagine." Hermione nodded.

There was a lull in the conversation as the clock tower bells rang and the corridors were suddenly filled with noises from students walking from class. Hermione and Draco stared out the window onto the front lawn where the herbology students were heading back to the castle. Harry and Ron were walking back, laughing at something that Hermione had the strangest feeling had to do with her. She sighed and lay back down.

"What's the matter?" Draco asked, leaning over to see her better.

With her eyes closed, Hermione said, "Boys."

Though she could not see it, Draco winced and said,

"Well it's a good thing I'm a man, and not a boy, right?" trying to lighten the mood. Hermione, however, was not laughing. She sat up onto her elbows, gave him a look, and lay back down.

"Look, 'Mione, I'm sorry. What I did was a terrible thing to do, and I regret it one hundred percent, but I don't want us to be like this. I miss your smile, and your kisses and the way you talk in your sleep…"

Hermione sat up straight, "I talk in my sleep!"

Draco laughed, "Only sometimes, but it's cute as hell when you do." Hermione felt her face flush, as it did whenever anyone gave her a compliment.

She sighed again, "Draco…I miss that too, but it's only been a day like that and it's not healthy for us to need each other this much, when we're not even together especially."

Draco got off his bed and sat on the end of hers, "But Hermione, I consider us together. It's just a different kind of together. Things will be easier when we graduate."

"Draco I can't wait that long! This is torture and it's not fair of you to ask me to just wait for you! And how do I know that you and Pansy will ever break up? Because that's the only way that this will ever be ok and I don't see that happening in the near future."

"I hope you're not saying what I think you're saying. Please don't leave me again." Draco pleaded. Hermione couldn't meet his eye level; she instead stared at the buttons on his shirt.

"I think it might be for the best Draco, at least until us both get this figured out." She whispered.

Draco felt the heat rush to his face and his heart quicken as he remembered the pain it caused when she left him before, and that was only for a week. He grabbed her shoulders and kissed her.

"Please, just give me a little more time. You almost killed me last time and I can't go through that again."

"But Draco-"He cut her off with another kiss, and slowly laid her back down onto her bed. She struggled at first to say something, but soon stopped when his hand slid down to her thigh, rubbing his thumb in small circles. He broke apart from the kiss momentarily to look into her eyes, so full of confusion, love and desire. He moved to her neck and began sucking while his fingers made their way up her skirt to her panty line. Hermione's breathing had sped up and she was gripping at his shirt as he played with the edge of her panties.

"D-Draco, no." she managed to say between breaths. That surprised him. No one had ever told him to stop once he had started. He sat up and removed his hand.

"What's the matter?" He asked, almost scared to know the reason.

She took a deep breath, "Until you break up with Pansy, we can't do that. No touching, no sex."

Draco stared at her, dumbfounded, "…What…?"

"I'm sorry. But that's the deal. Take it or nothing at all." She gently pushed him off her bed, closed her privacy curtain, and laid down facing the opposite direction.

Draco stood in shock. What had just happened? He slowly sat down and looked at his hand. It was completely healed. He decided now would be as good time as ever to tell Madame Pomfrey and to go back to class. Grabbing his books, he looked back at the curtain that portrayed the shadow of Hermione's silhouette from the afternoon sun creeping in the windows. Her form looked so small, but at the same time, strong and determined. Draco ran his hand through his hair and blew out a deep breath, 'That girl will be the end of me' he thought to himself as he turned to walk away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! **

**Sorry this was late, I was sick yesterday and didn't get on the computer once :\**

**but no fear! I made this one a bit longer to compensate! :D **

**i think i answered a few of the questions in this chapter too, so if you have any more, feel free to ask!**

**thank you for all the input and "watching" this story (or whatever its called haha yea yea im a n00b shuddup) **

**please enjoy and R&R!**

**:D**

Draco walked back slowly to the head's dormitories lost in thought, trusting his auto-pilot to direct him through the corridors he always walked. But there was an unexpected obstacle in the road today, and Draco just happened to run right smack into it. Or her, to be more specific. It was Pansy.

"Drakey! Oh perfect! Did you hear what happened to Granger? Apparently she got some sorta weird stuff all over her in class and is covered in boils! I was gonna go get some pictures to show everyone! Ooo I hope she got some on her face!" She cooed.

"Oh I was just there, she's all better now, sorry Pans." Draco lied.

Pansy pouted, "Well that sucks, doesn't it? Maybe I can figure out what it was and spill it on her at breakfast tomorrow…." She smirked evilly. Draco grabbed her arm somewhat forcefully,

"Don't even think about that Pansy." He whispered, immediately regretting it. She narrowed her eyes,

"Why are you defending her Draco?" she asked. Draco was thankful he was good at lying on the spot,

"Because I'm going to fuck you so hard tonight, you're not going to be able to walk in the morning, or all day for that matter." He whispered huskily in her ear. He felt her shiver as he looked into her black abyss eyes. A smile slowly crept onto her face.

"I'd better go freshen up then, I'll see you in an hour, Drakey…" She whispered as her hands played with his dragons hide belt. She kissed Draco and sauntered away towards the Slytherins dormitory.

Draco sighed, contemplating the likely-hood of being able to "get it up" while under so much stress, but he remembered, he was Draco Malfoy! If he could bone Pansy in the middle of the war, while Voldemort was staying at his house, he certainly could now! Shaking off any nerves, he made his way quickly to the head's dormitory to get things ready for the nights…festivities.

An hour later, Draco had transformed the common room from a comfy place to study to a dark green seduction chamber. He had cooked dinner and laid it on the floor in front of the roaring fire with silk green pillows surrounding the picnic. He himself had taken a shower and combed his hair back with mousse, just the way Pansy liked it. He had also shaved away the stubble that she hated. Everything was ready; all he needed was the girl.

A soft knock sounded at the door and Draco hopped to attention, waiting precisely the right amount of time before answering, as to not appear to anxious. He lazily opened the portrait and took in the sight of Pansy.

She was wearing a skin tight black silk mini-dress with shoes that could kill, but did however, make her legs look amazing. She smirked and sauntered into the room past Draco. As he shut the door behind her and followed her, he noticed the dress she was wearing was backless until the top of her butt, showing off her Slytherin snake tramp stamp. Draco cleared his throat and led her to the food.

They ate the delectable meal he had prepared and helped each other with dessert, chocolate covered strawberries. After the food was all gone, their hunger switched from food related to sex related. Before long, Pansy was straddling Draco, his shirt was completely unbuttoned and her dress was hiked up way beyond her hips. Pansy was working on unbuttoning his belt while Draco was trying to carry her up the winding staircase to his bedroom, which he clumsily made it to with much difficulty considering Pansy had managed to free him of his belt and currently had her hand down the front of his pants. He placed her on the bed and began unzipping her dress, sliding it off her hastily. He ripped off her bra and panties and pointed further onto the bed. Understanding his wordless order, Pansy slowly crawled backwards onto the bed and watched him with lust filled eyes. He crawled into the bed with her and did what Malfoy's do best. He fucked her.

After it was done, Pansy deep in sleep beside him, Draco couldn't settle his mind. His mind was in turmoil, he should tell Pansy what was going on with Hermione, and he should choose one of them, but he couldn't He was used to getting what he wanted, no exceptions. Something he was slowly realizing not everyone would allow. Take Hermione for instance, no female had EVER refused to bed with him, even lesbians had turned for a go with the great Draco Malfoy, but there was Hermione, standing her own against him, and he didn't really know what to make of that. Pansy sighed happily in her sleep and turned over. And then there was Pansy, always obedient, a pure blood, and up for any kind of kinky thing there was. She was also a badass, willing to do anything for something she wanted, and she usually got her way as well. She was the same as he always had been, but Draco was beginning to wonder if he was the same as he always had been. The very fact that he was considering this was proof in itself that he wasn't the same blonde boy who had entered through those big stone doors first year, he was slowly learning the way of the world without Voldemort, and he wasn't really sure how he fit into that world.

He was about to fall asleep when he heard the sound of the portrait door opening. Draco lunged for the bedside table and grabbed his wand, mentally casting the spell to reverse all the damage that had been done a few hours earlier. Hopefully, Hermione wouldn't have seen it, if there was any way to get her even further on his bad side; it would have been for her to have known what had happened right after their discussion in the hospital wing.

Draco heard the portrait door close and no other sounds followed, he hoped that meant she hadn't seen it, and he listened as she made her way up the winding staircase to her room. There was a pause in between the sound of her climbing the stairs and opening her door, and Draco knew she was staring at his door. He held his breath, praying she wouldn't hear Pansy muttering in her sleep, when he heard her turn around and walk into her own room. Draco let out a sigh of relief and fell into a very guilty sleep.

The next morning Hermione woke with a mission. The night before, she had returned, slightly doped up from all the medicine Madame Pomfrey gave her, to the common room. Even doped up she knew something was off. It was too tidy. Everything was exactly where it should have been. Even the books she had taken out that morning were in order. Something wasn't right, even if had cleaned, or more likely, gotten to the poor house elves to clean, Draco wouldn't have touched her school things. What was going on? She had looked around the room for clues and was about to give up with she found something. A single earring, an emerald snake, was sitting on the coffee table. Hermione knew immediately who it belonged to, Pansy. And she knew what had more than likely happened earlier in this room. Feeling slightly dirty just standing in the room, Hermione performed a sanitation sleep across the entire room and headed groggily upstairs.

When she got to the top of the stairs, she stopped, looking at the plaque on the door opposite hers that read "D.M." A list of possible pranks sifted through her head that she could use against the "happy couple". After all, she had heard what that bitch Pansy had been planning to do, but never went through with for some reason. Hermione thought about opening the door and yelling something like "THERES A BASILISK IN THE CORRIDOR!" and watch the stupid Slytherin's reaction. But being that she was so drugged up, and a mostly good person, she decided sleep sounding more enticing and headed to bed. She put on her favorite pair of pajamas and slipped under the covers, nodding off the sleep, not before she thought of a few choice plans of revenge though.

Today was Saturday, and a perfect day to put her plan into action. She got up, took a shower and sent an owl to Ginny. She found her red bikini and put it on, casting a slight bronzing spell onto her skin to make her seem a bit tanner. Grabbing her sunglasses and a towel, Hermione headed downstairs.

Draco was sitting on the couch in the head's dorm, nursing a hot cup of coffee when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He lazily turned his head expecting to see Hermione with a stack load of books and an overflowing bag. He nearly choked on his coffee when he saw what she was wearing. Hermione Granger, in all of her glory, looked like a goddess. She was wearing a bikini that showed off her terrific ass and complemented her perfect chest. Her legs looked a mile long and her curly brown hair was cascading down her back.

"Something the matter Malfoy?" She asked, innocently, putting on a white t-shirt.

Draco couldn't speak at first, still intoxicated by the beauty before him, she had rarely ever let him see her that bare, and only then in the dark, so he was quite in shock.

"Um, yea, no, I mean, I have a hangover…" he said. 'Oh great job their Einstein!' he thought to himself.

Hermione smiled and said,

"I'll check and see if we have any medicine left." She walked over to the kitchenette and looked through the medicine cabinet.

"Hmmm I don't see any…maybe it's on the bottom shelf…?" she pondered allowed. She then proceeded to slowly bend over until her rump was sticking up in the air and Draco could not stop staring at it if his life depended on it.

"Oh well, I guess it's not there, sorry bout that roomie!" She said, though she didn't seem sorry at all, "OK well I'm meeting Ginny at the lake so I'll see you later."

And with that, Hermione left Draco alone, still silent and attempting to figure out what just happened. He thought she had left when she stuck her head back in the portrait hole and said,

"Oh, and Pansy left her earring here, it's on the coffee table. K bye!" and shut the door.

Draco had to hand it to the girl, she knew how to get to him and make him feel like an idiot at the same time.

Hermione and Ginny were laughing on their way down to the lake.

"And he just sat there? Didn't say a word?" Ginny laughed.

"Not unless you count drooling?" Hermione replied. The girls broke out into another set of laughter as they found a suitable spot to lay their towels while they were in the water.

"So you're sure this is safe?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, Dumbledore decided to rope off a swimming section of the lake magically so no creatures could come through and hurt swimmers." Hermione said as she removed her t-shirt.

"Wow, that's really nice of him, I wonder what made him do that?" Ginny pondered.

"Well keep in mind this was during his 'I'm going to run in a triathlon!' kick, remember that?"

Ginny laughed, "Oh man, do I ever, he made the quiditch team run with him! Said it's easier to run in a group! Easier my foot! That old coot's got some speed on him!"

The girls laughed and enjoyed a refreshing swim in the lake, free of boys, stress and the giant squid.

"So how are things with you and Harry?" Hermione asked as they were lying out beside the lake.

Ginny smiled, "Amazing. I don't know, Harry just gets me, and I know that he won't hurt me, he's too nice for that."

"That must be nice." Hermione smiled, thinking of how her life could be different if she had fallen for someone else. She sighed.

"Oh, Mione, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.." Ginny started

"No. you shouldn't be sorry for being happy. Never apologize for that! But you can help me with something else." Hermione said.

"Anything!" Ginny agreed.

"You're gonna help me find a new guy."

"So you're giving up on Malfoy?"

"I wouldn't say that, this is just a way of getting back at him." Hermione smiled.

"I just love revenge; now let's find you a man!"

The girls laughed and made their way back up to the castle going over who they could set Hermione up with. They were about to part ways when Ginny stopped dead in her tracks.

"Oh man, I'm a genius." Ginny said.

"What? Tell me why!" Hermione laughed.

"You're going to get a secret admirer." She smiled.

"What? How do you know?" Hermione asked, doubting her friend's sanity.

"Because it's going to be me!" Hermione gave Ginny a look. "No! Hear me out! I send you a bunch of flowers and stuff and have them all sent to the room when we know Draco will be there! He'll definitely get jealous!"

"I don't know, that sounds kinda petty…" Hermione trailed off.

Ginny glared at her, "All's fair in love and war! Wake up! It's your turn to fight back! And this is how your gonna start! I'll start asking around my friends to see if anyone's available for a couple dates and I'll get back to you!" she said as she ran off to the owlry.

"Wait! What are you mailing!" Hermione yelled after her.

"Roses! A dozen red roses to a very stupid head girl!" Ginny yelled back. Hermione laughed and sighed, realizing there was no stopping the red head now, so she might as well let the chips fall as they may. Smiling, she headed up to the dorms, tired after being in the sun all day and fell asleep on the cough in front of the fire. She never really understood why the school felt the need to keep the fires going all year, even in the heat of summer and spring, but currently she was chilly from the water and it felt quite nice.

Draco had spent an awesome day with his best friend, Blaise, and was looking forward to taking a nap on the couch in the common room when he discovered that would be quite impossible. When he got to the common room, he found the 'goddess' Hermione peacefully snoozing in the exact place he was planning on doing so. Normally, if it had been any other girl, he wouldn't have hesitated about lying down with them, but he was on dangerous ice with Hermione and that morning had left him quite confused as to where they stood. He also hesitated because she had neglected changing out of her bikini and she looked rather sexy lain out on the sofa, her chest rising and falling slowly with each breath. He started getting hot, whether from thoughts of Hermione or the fire behind him, and needed to move away quickly, when there was a loud noise from the window. Hermione sat straight up, her hair falling in her face in a comically cute way and an adorably confused face. Draco looked over at the window, the source of the noise and saw two large owls holding a rather large bouquet of roses. Confused, he walked to the windows, took the flowers from the birds and plucked out the card.

"_to Hermione, the most beautiful, intelligent, sexy girl in the whole school._

_Love your secret admirer"_

Draco stared at the card in his hand, awestruck. 'Someone else likes Hermione! NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD NOT GOOD! Oh man, I mean, I understand why, but dammit!" Draco thought to himself, "Maybe if I get rid of the card before she sees…dammit she's looking over her….gaaah!"

"Who's it for?" Hermione asked groggily, rubbing her eye. Draco handed her the card, giving up. She read it and her eyes bulged and her cheeks turned pink.

"I….I can't believe…..actually sent…." She muttered, bemused. A small smile crept onto her face. She grabbed the bouquet and put them in a vase on the kitchenette counter. Smiling like a giddy school girl all the while. Draco silently cursed.

"Do you know who they're from?" Draco asked.

"I think I have an idea" Hermione smiled as she turned around and skipped upstairs.

Draco punched the couch in frustration before settling down for a nap of his own, sure to be riddled with dreams of a certain brunette in a red bikini.

**i dont think i've mentioned this before, but one of my inspirations for this song is "Secret Valentine" by We the Kings **

**i suggest you listen to it :D its awesome! haha**


	5. Chapter 5

**ummm nothing really to say today haha **

**please R&R!**

Hermione was doing what she did best, studying. She had burrowed herself into an alcove of the library, surrounded by hundreds of books and parchment. Had she not been so absorbed in what she was doing, she might have noticed the person sneaking up behind her. And had she not chosen a remote corner of the library, she might have been safer in a more populated area. But she had done neither of these things, and as such, she was quite taken by surprise when a hand slipped over her mouth and a voice whispered in her ear,

"Scream and you'll be sorry, little bookworm." Hermione kicked away from the table, trying to loosen the hold that her capturer had on her, but their grip was solid, and Hermione's wand had fallen to the floor and rolled away. The person holding her captive chuckled,

"What's the matter 'Mione? I thought you liked surprises?" That was when Hermione realized, she knew exactly who this person was, and she'd heard that whisper enough times to recognize that tone. Getting angry, she bit down on the hand that was covering her mouth and spun around, lunging for her wand as she did so.

Draco laughed and caught her before she reached the piece of wood,

"Hmm well I don't typically mind that sort of thing, but we'll have to work on your aim there, love." He said huskily. He drew her closer, until her arms were useless, pinned against his chest.

"Now, that little stunt you pulled earlier today had a very lasting impression on me. So I'd thought I'd return the favor." He was whispering heavily into her ear, causing her hormones to spin out of control. She was losing control of her brain, fast, and he knew it. Hermione always prided herself on being able to control her feelings, especially ones of THAT nature, to herself. But there was something about when she got close to Draco, her body temperature would increase and she would lose sight of any and all morals.

Desperately, she tried pushing away from him.

"Draco, I-"she began, but he shushed her, putting a single finger to her lips.

"Shh it's ok." He whispered into her ear before he went to work on her neck. Almost immediately, Hermione felt the effects he was causing on her body. He kissed her neck and was gently sucking right below her ear when her breathing sped up, smirking, he bit down on her neck and she let out a moan.

Hermione cursed herself, 'Great, that's just great. That'll really make him stop!' she thought to herself.

"Draco…we talked about this…I said no..." She managed to get out. Draco stopped momentarily to look her in eyes with his storm cloud gaze,

"No, I believe your exact words were, 'no touching, no sex'. We are not currently having sex, and the former, well for that to really count; I would have to move my hands a little this way…" He said as he slowly traced a finger down her blouse to the front of her skirt. She grabbed his wrist and watched him, trying to anticipate his next move. Smirking, he began sucking on her neck once again, making her go weak at the knees.

'Oh what the hell.' Hermione thought. She grabbed Draco's jaw in both hands and kissed him full on the mouth. Smirking into the kiss, Draco slowly backed Hermione up until she was trapped against the wall, one hand on the wall beside her head, the other on her hip. He licked her bottom lip, asking for entrance and she opened her mouth, letting their tongues meet.

Hermione had lost control, she was fully aware of it, but at the moment she didn't care, she just wanted him. But somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind, a plan began formulating, a plan worthy of a Slytherin. She smiled unconsciously, and Draco took that as an invitation. His hands began snaking up the back of her blouse, fingering for her bra hook. But Hermione grabbed his hands and brought them out from under her shirt, wagging a finger in his face as she did. She unbuttoned Draco's top three buttons and began licking, sucking and kissing any exposed skin. Standing on tip-toe, she reached his neck, and preceded until she found his spot and he let out a moan of ecstasy, grinning, she bit down on his neck, causing him to moan once again, louder this time. She broke away from his neck and looked him in the eye.

His eyes revealed an animal-like quality, full of lust and she knew that he was turned on. Deciding to put the finishing touches of her plans together, she gave him a soft, slow kiss on the lips, gently biting his lower lip as she backed away. At the same time, she grabbed the front of his pants, to feel that he was, in fact, very hard.

"Oh Draco, I didn't realize you left your wand in your pocket." She winked as she backed away, never turning around, grabbing her wand and her bag slowly. Draco seemed to realize that she was leaving and attempted to get her to stay.

He grabbed her by the wrist brought her close to him once more, he leaned his head down a tiny bit, waiting for her to meet him half way, and she began to, but right before their lips met, and right after his eyes had shut, she whispered,

"Goodbye Draco." And licked his lip and walked away, leaving Draco completely turned on and helpless.

Back in the head's dormitory, Ginny and Hermione were laughing on the couch,

"Oh the price I would pay to see his face!" Ginny laughed. Suddenly, the girls were interrupted by a knock on the door, both looked up, curious.

"Oh it's probably Harry and Ron." Hermione said, getting up to answer the door, and sure enough, it was the dynamic duo waiting on the other side of the portrait. The four began discussing gossip on death eaters who had gotten away, typical school gossip and as always, quiditch, when there was another knock on the door.

"I wonder who that is now?" Ginny pondered. Ginny got up to answer the door for Hermione, who was busy showing Harry something in one of her many books.

"Um…Mione? You're gonna wanna see this." Said Ginny from the doorway. Hermione went to the door to see a dozen house elves each carrying the biggest bouquet of roses she had ever seen.

"Who…?" She began, when the house elf in front squeaked,

" I presume? These are for you ma'am! Where would you like them?"

Ginny and Hermione stared, awestruck, Hermione pointed questioningly at Ginny who shook her head.

"I swear! This wasn't me! I would have told you!" The girls stood, dumbfounded, and were brought back to reality quite quickly when from the flowers in front of them came a little voice,

"Ma'am? Where would you like them?"

Hermione apologized profusely and showed the house elves where they could place each pot and tried to give them each some sort of payment, which they all, of course, refused. Once they had all left, and the roses were all placed around the room, the room looked like a greenroom. Hermione had hardly ever seen so many flowers in a room that wasn't a green house or some sort of habitat enclosure.

"Geez Hermione, way to cue us in on the new love." Harry joked, "Who are they from?"

"The cards just said Secret Admirer…I have no idea…" Hermione mused. Ron's ears began turning red,

"Well whoever they are, they're just showing off how much money they have!" He pouted.

Ginny, Harry and Hermione looked at him questioningly.

"Oh yea Ron, because I'm sure that was the aim of the delivery." Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Well think about it! All of these flowers must have cost a but load! The person would have to be rich to buy all these!" He stated.

"He does have a point, anyone rich you know who might fancy you?" Harry asked.

"No…I mean…I don't know?" Hermione asked giving Ginny a look and they both immediately knew who they were thinking of. Draco.

Hermione began playing with a rose petal while the boys discussed quiditch again and Ginny approached her.

"So do you think it was him?" Ginny asked, picking up a petal for herself.

"I don't think so, but when he comes back we'll watch his expression, and see what happens."Hermione said.

So the four relaxed in the now fragrant common room and waited for the return of Hermione's roommate. They had spent several hours talking and joking and the girls had almost forgotten about Draco when the sound of the door being opened hushed the conversation. All eyes were on the figure entering the room.

Draco had had a trying day. He was tired and wanted to go to sleep and forget about being sexually teased and rejected for the second time in one week, something that had never happened before. He prayed it wouldn't become a pattern. His record was perfect until she came along, and he wasn't sure what to make of these new changes.  
Sighing, he said the password to the heads dorms and walked through the portrait hole. He stopped momentarily; a sweet smell met his nostrils as he crossed the threshold. Continuing on, he rounded the corner to see that his common room had gotten a floral make-over.

"What the hell is this?" Draco steamed. Looking at the couches in front of the fire place, he realized Hermione had invited Pothead and the Weasels for company. "Well?" he asked again.

"Hermione seems to have a secret admirer!" Ginny giggled. Draco could feel the back of his neck heating up. He looked to Hermione who was blushing light pink, gazing at the flowers. Trying to maintain his dignity, Draco put on his coldest look,

"Well, whatever have fun with that. It's probably a prank anyway." He said, examining his fingernails.

Hermione glared at him,

"Jealous, are we, Malfoy?" she taunted.

"Of you?" he laughed half heart idly, "Good one Mudblood." He turned around and walked up the staircase, his mind going crazy, but his face revealing nothing. 'I'm actually losing her…' he realized to himself.

Hermione sighed,

"Well, it's almost curfew, so we should all be heading to bed." She said, yawning. Everyone stood up and made their way to the door, but Ron stopped Hermione, letting Ginny and Harry go ahead.

"Um, Mione? I was just wondering, you know, what you thought of all this." He muttered.

"Of what Ron? The flowers? I mean…their pretty, but I wish I knew who they were from." She answered, smiling slightly.

"Yea, heh flowers are kinda dumb…but um…what's your favorite flower anyways?" Ron asked, his ears turning pink.

Hermione thought for a moment, "Lilies, any kind really, I love them all." She smiled, "Was that it?"

Ron hesitated, opened his mouth to speak, when Ginny yelled from the portrait for him to hurry up. He smiled and said goodnight, and clumsily climbed out the door.

Hermione sighed, picking up a pot of flowers and putting it on the windowsill where it would get more light, and headed up the stairs to bed. Before cutting the lights in the common room out, she took one last look at all the flowers and smiled, despite herself.

**please tell me what you think of this chapter especially! I thought about changing it, but i wanted to go ahead and post it, so any input is greatly welcomed! :D thanks guys!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! **

**Sorry, I know its been a couple of days, but I've had serious writers block, but I did what my english teacher told us,**

**"when you have writers block, just start writing, it doesn't matter what about, just write and you'll eventually get into the swing of it"**

**very wise words. haha**

**sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter than the rest, but thats how the cookie crumbles ain't it? **

**enjoy and please please R&R! **

**3**

It had been a long day of dealing with Snape, her duties as head girl, and listening while Ron complained about some sort of problem with the quiditch field. All Hermione wanted to do was collapse into her bed and sleep for 24 hours straight. She groggily stepped through the portrait door and let her bag fall with a thump. She was shuffling across the common room to the staircase when a voice came from behind her.

"Oh dear, you're not too tired to carry out our plans are you?" Draco whispered huskily in her ear. Even though she was tired, Hermione's senses were immediately thrown into full throttle and her heart quickened as she inhaled his scent.

"Draco…I'm sorry, I'm just so tired…" She trailed off, trying to escape his firm grip around her waist.

"Oh no you don't," He said, pulling her towards the couch, "Don't worry, you won't have to do much."

Hermione let him guide her onto the couch where she promptly laid down. He smirked,

"Before, it took me a good hour to get you to lay down for me, now you do it willingly." Hermione mumbled something half heartedly as she readjusted a pillow behind her head.

"Sorry love, what was that? Having some difficulty hearing you." Draco teased.

"ShuddupMalfoy." She mumbled, closing her eyes. Draco laughed and whispered in her ear,

"Oh believe me; you're going to want to keep your eyes open for this." Hermione shivered and slowly opened her eyes to see Draco straddling her and slowly untying his green tie and throwing it to the side. He then peeled off his white button-down shirt and let it hang loosely over his Grecian god like abs. He looked up at Hermione while slowly undid his belt and let it drop to the floor. Hermione could feel her pulse racing as she slowly woke up, her hormones kicking in. A fact that didn't slip Draco's attention, he smirked and slowly slid his pants down to reveal black silk boxers. Hermione licked her lips in anticipation. Draco took that as an invitation and he was upon her, kissing her everywhere her skin was exposed. Hermione kissed him back with just as much vigor, letting her hands caress his hard muscles and tangle into his blonde hair. Hermione had begun sucking on his neck when she felt his hands fumbling with the buttons of her blouse, in a moment, the blouse was gone and he went to work on her skirt, which came off in half the time.

Draco let out an animal like growl from deep in his throat at the sight of Hermione splayed out underneath him, clad only in her bra and panties. He wanted nothing more desperately than to be inside of her, but he slowed himself, savoring the moment. He bent down and dragged her panties off with his perfectly white teeth, watching her reaction all the while. Her eyes were becoming hazy and lust filled and Draco knew it wouldn't be long.

Hermione was well awake now, her body screaming for Draco. His storm blue eyes were staring so intensely into hers, full of lust and longing, Hermione knew neither of them would last much longer. Draco lowered his head, keeping eye contact with Hermione as he did so. '_Is he going to….but he's never before…oh my god he is!' _Hermione thought to herself, as Draco brought his head closer and closer to Hermione's abdomen. He began licking the inside of her thighs and Hermione's breathing started getting faster and shallower, as he moved closer to her lips, Hermione's back slowly began to arch and her heart began to throb. As he licked over her clit Hermione gasped, Draco smirked and lightly bit her, Hermione let out an even bigger gasp and she moaned loudly. Draco was enjoying watching Hermione get off so much by what he was doing, but by now his need was growing to dangerous proportions. He finished with his mouth, taking in her taste, and coming away licking his lips. Hermione had thrown her head back in pleasure and was gripping the couch around her.

Smiling, he trailed his tongue from her abdomen to her chest to her neck where he unhooked her bra and began playing with her nipples with one hand as he slowly removed his boxers with the other. Hermione lifted her head to meet his and kissed him passionately. Draco was sucked so much into the kiss that he stopped doing what he had been doing momentarily, but he was brought back to reality when Hermione laid back down and pulled him on top of her, the feeling of her body against his sent Draco into a state of need so great, he knew he couldn't wait any longer. He brought his member to her entrance and slowly began going in and out, accelerating fast. Hermione was already moaning and Draco knew that if he was capable of any thought whatsoever at the moment, he would be as well. Or maybe he was, and he just wasn't aware of it. The only thing that he was aware of was Hermione's body and his own, coming together in the best sex of his life. And that was no small feat either, Draco had had sex many times, but no one had compared to Hermione.

Hermione was aware of very little besides Draco's panting, moaning and of course, his member inside of her throbbing body. She could hardly suppress screaming at the top of her lungs every time he came crashing back inside of her body. She was almost there, she knew it, and she knew Draco was too. He had sped up his pace and they were both in so much pleasure it was impossible to hide it anymore. Suddenly, it was like something exploded in both of them and the world had gone quiet and loud at the same time. Hermione couldn't help but scream Draco's name as she gripped the couch for support.

They came back down, panting and laying on top of each other. Draco lay down beside the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and brushed her hair behind her ear. He smiled at her, a smile, not a smirk that everyone was used to, but a genuine smile, because Draco was genuinely happy. He watched her as she fell asleep on his chest, murmuring quietly. He kissed the top of her head and fell into a very blissful sleep.

"Malfoy! Granger! Both of you stop daydreaming! 10 points from Gryffindor, 5 from Slytherin." Professor Snape barked, which was met with numerous complaints from the both sides of the room.

Hermione and Malfoy both looked at the other immediately caught the other's eye and looked away hastily.

'_There's no way he was thinking about what I was thinking about. It was just a coincidence!' _Hermione thought to herself.

'_I wonder if she remembers that night…I wonder what she was thinking about…that night? Nah, that's impossible' _Draco thought to himself.


	7. Chapter 7

**hey guys!**

**so to make up for the little baby chapter last time i made this one extra long! :D **

**i've had an...interesting week from which i drew TONS of inspiration for this story, so you can't say its unrealistic because i know people who it actually happened to! so there! :D **

**hahaha **

**enjoy and please review! it makes my day when you do! :D  
3**

"Ginny, I'm not too sure about this" Hermione said, hesitantly, looking around the crowed, smoky, not to mention loud room. Ginny rolled her eyes, it wasn't the first time Hermione had raised that question tonight, and she was getting sick of it,

"Look, Hermione, it's just a party. Please just try and relax, and I don't know, maybe have fun?" She said. Hermione nervously played with the hair tie on her wrist.

**'**_ shouldn't be here…I should be shutting this down…Well, it's technically not against school rules because it's in Hogsmeade…but that's no excuse!' _Hermione argued with herself silently.

It was the weekend and Ginny had coaxed Hermione into skipping her patrol duties for a "girl's night in Hogsmeade", as Ginny put it, only to bring her to an old abandoned loft apartment where some students were throwing a party. Hermione still wasn't sure how Ginny had convinced her to step through the threshold of the apartment, let alone stay once inside.

Hermione sighed and looked about the room. There were students from every house there, and even some who had graduated the year before. Looking for a seat, Hermione found a broken wicker chair, repaired it with a wave of her wand, and sat down bored as she watched Ginny being fawned over by two guys Hermione had never seen before. They were both wearing Ravenclaw robes though, so Hermione supposed they were alright. A moment later, Ginny was beside her,

"Ok. Don't look now, but there's too reeeeally cute guys who wanna dance with us!" Ginny said excitedly, "I said don't look!" she laughed as Hermione deliberately sized up the two.

"I don't know Gin…" Hermione said, taking in the appearance of the two. They weren't ugly, far from it, but she just wasn't really into them. She was about to say no when she saw her best friends face. Sighing, she stood from her perch,

"Alright let's go." She submitted. _'The thing a girl does for friendship' _she thought to herself as she was led to the two Ravenclaws.

"Hermione, this is Alexander and **this** is Sam." Ginny said, nudging Hermione closer to Sam as Ginny led Alexander onto the dance floor. Hermione turned from watching her friend gyrating against the stranger to see Sam staring at her hopefully.

"So ,um, do you wanna…?" Sam asked blushing slightly. Hermione felt for the poor guy, he was clearly Hermione's equivalent in the friendship area. She gave him a smile and led him onto the dance floor. She didn't get as physical as Ginny was, but Hermione still had fun. Sam was nice, but not to the point of boredom. She felt his body against her back, his hands on her hips and his breath on her neck. For a while she forgot all about Draco and just reveled in the fact that someone else found her attractive. Hermione Granger felt hot for the first time in a long time.

She began to become more confident in the little time they spent on the dance floor. After a bit, the group headed back to the falling apart kitchen where students were drinking and mingling. The guys found an old beat up table and chairs and left the girls to find drinks. As soon as they were out of earshot, the girls did what girls do best, gossip.

"Oh man Hermione, he's so into you!" Ginny clapped her friend on the arm. Hermione felt herself blush and get excited.

"I dunno, he's pretty cute I guess, and he's really nice." Hermione said as she played with a loose string on her top.

Ginny laughed,

"Come on, don't lie, you're into him too!" Hermione responded with a small smile. Ginny returned it with a triumphant smile, "I told you you would have fun tonight!"

"Yeah, yeah, the one time you're right, now I'll never hear the end of it!" Hermione laughed, "What about Alexander? What do you think of him?"

Ginny just smiled and said,

"There's potential in him yet…" the girls laughed and were still laughing when the guys came back with drinks. Hermione noted to herself that they were already open and when they looked away, she cast a quick anti-drug charm over the drinks. Even if they seemed nice, Hermione knew better than to trust an open drink at a party.

"So what were you lovely ladies laughing about?" Alexander said as he sat down beside Ginny, who immediately leaned closer to him. Sam sat beside Hermione and smiled.

The two girls exchanged glances and began giggling once more,

"Oh, you know, just girl stuff, I'm sure you wouldn't be interested at all." Hermione said, taking a sip of her fire whiskey. Sam leaned closer to Hermione and brushed her hair behind her ear into which he whispered,

"Well you might just have to tell me about it later then." Shivers ran up and down Hermione's spine and she wasn't completely sure what to do, so she just smiled and jumped back into the conversation that was going on at the table. The group spent the rest of the night joking, laughing, drinking and dancing. Hermione was having a good time, and was not oblivious to the fact that Sam kept finding excuses to touch her, if only on the arm to get her attention, or taking her seat and offering his lap as a replacement. Hermione also didn't mind it at all.

When it was time to leave, the four made their way back up to the castle. They parted ways in the corridor that split the Gryffindor wing from the Ravenclaw wing, but as Hermione turned around to make her way to her dorm, a hand stopped her.

"Hermione…I had a really good time tonight. What are you planning on doing after this?" Sam cooed in her ear. She shivered and felt warm at the same time.

"Heading back to my dorm and going to bed." Hermione answered, immediately kicking herself for her stupid response. Sam smiled and nodded, bid her goodnight and disappeared into the darkness of the corridor.

Hermione stood in the same spot, shocked by her ignorance.

'_HEADING BACK TO MY DORM AND GOING TO BED! WHAT THE FUCK KINDA FLIRTING IS THAT HERMIONE!' _She thought to herself, kicking the wall. '_Well, I suppose there's always tomorrow.' _And she headed off towards the head's dormitories.

Even after her stupid line, Hermione was still giddy from the night, and as she walked through the portrait door she was still smiling. She made her way to the fireplace to pick up some books she had left there earlier when a voice startled her from the stairway.

"Have a fun night did we?" said a very annoyed Draco, who was leaning against the wall, his eyes boring into Hermione's soul.

"Yes, in fact, I did." She smiled as she put her books away. Draco scoffed,

"Find yourself a new boy toy then?"

Hermione sighed and turned around,

"And what if I have? What are you going to do about it?"

Draco shrugged,

"Whatever you want love, whatever you want." Hermione didn't miss Draco's intended double meaning in his words and returned his steely gaze. She finally looked away, deciding not to let him spoil her good mood when he said,

"So who's the lucky sod eh?"

"If you MUST know, his name is Sam, he's a Ravenclaw." Hermione huffed, getting annoyed with the interrogation.

"What, Sam McMullan?" Draco asked, incredulous. Hermione nodded and Draco began laughing.

"What the bloody hell are you laughing at Malfoy?" Hermione spat, shutting him up with the use of his last name.

"Nothing, love, just irony. Sweet, sweet irony." He smirked as he turned around and murmured, "G'night." Before making his way up the stairs to his room.

Hermione was fuming, she grabbed a pillow from the couch and screamed into it. How dare Draco mock her new romantic interest? Sam was a good guy! Well she'd show him! She quickly ran to her desk by the window in the dorm, grabbing a quill and parchment.

_Hey Sam! I had a lot of fun meeting you last night! Even if you are a Ravenclaw ;) haha we should hang out again sometime! ~Hermione _

Hermione read her note and smiled to herself. She then brought it to the owlry and gave it to an owl that she made sure wouldn't deliver the letter until the next day.

'_I'm sure THAT would go over well, waking him up in the middle of the night for a note.' _Hermione chuckled to herself. Feeling very confident, Hermione headed back to bed and settled in for a good night's sleep.

The next morning, Hermione awoke feeling happy, with a sense of worth she hadn't felt in a long time. Stretching, she got up and took a shower, taking extra care with her makeup and got dressed in her best uniform. Observing herself in the mirror quickly, she was satisfied. She opened the bathroom door to see Draco, sitting on the floor outside the bathroom, waiting his turn.

"Finally! Took you long enough what-" Draco stopped and gave Hermione a once over, slowly looking her body up and down and settling on her face. For an instant, if one knew where to look and when, they might see something on his face, a caring, loving, needing emotion. But that was soon masked with Draco's trademark smirk,

"Don't tell me you got all dolled up on my account? Or is this for Sammy Wammy?" he teased. Hermione felt her cheeks heat up as she stepped over Draco and made her way downstairs with no response for the chuckling blonde.

Draco remained chuckling to himself until he was sure that he was drowned out by the sound of the shower. He stood, in a trance under the hot water, in undeniable pain and torture that the love of his life had moved on. Though it was impossible to tell the difference between the water from the shower and the water from his eyes, Draco was silently crying.

Hermione sashayed down the stairs to the Gryffindor common room to go to breakfast with Ginny, as always. She paced back and forth in the common room, but she was very impatient this particular morning, so she bounded up the stairs to Ginny's room.

Ginny was sitting at the vanity in the room, putting earrings in.

"Hermione! Hey! I'm almost done, just gimme a second." She said.

"Ginny! Oh oh oh I've got to tell you somethinggg" Hermione sang, plopping onto Ginny's bed.

"Ok, shoot." Ginny said, applying blush carefully.

"Well, I kind of did something last night." Hermione said quickly, watching Ginny's reaction. Ginny dropped her blush brush and spun around.

"What did you-with Sam? OH MY GOD HERMIONE!" Ginny said, not completing a single thought.

Hermione laughed and hugged a pillow.

"I didn't sleep with him if that's what you mean! What kind of girl do you take me for?" Hermione laughed, "But it does involve Sam!"

"Hermione Granger, you tell me right now or so help me..!" Ginny was standing now, anticipation visible on her face. Hermione laughed and told her what she had done, and how Sam would be getting her little note any minute now. But the reaction from Ginny was not one that she had been expecting. Ginny had a nervous smile on, and Hermione was instantly worried,

"But you yourself said he was into me, right? So it's totally ok that I did this, right?" Hermione said, gripping the pillow she had previously been hugging.

"Well that all depends, I mean, it's not an easy situation to assess.." Ginny said, fiddling with her blush brush. "Let's just go downstairs and see what happens, can't really change anything now, so might as well."

Hermione never thought about the fact that this idea might have been a TAD desperate, or a TAD crazy…but now that she was thinking clearly, she was regretting her choice. Ginny could see the despair on her best friend's face,

"Hey! Don't worry! Maybe he'll be excited! You never know!" She reassured her. Hermione nodded as the girls made their way to the great hall.

Hermione felt like her heart was in her throat and her stomach was no longer in her body. Her previously confident gait was replaced with a timid, unsure one and Hermione could feel her world on a one way collision course. They made their way through the enormous doors in the great hall and found their normal seats on the Gryffindor table. She quickly scanned the Ravenclaw table for Sam and Alexander, but could find neither. Ginny reassured her that they had probably slept in after the long night. Calming down somewhat, Hermione drank her coffee slowly and picked at the grapefruit in front of her. She didn't even like grapefruit.

Harry and Ron soon joined the girls and inquired to Hermione's odd mood,

"You feelin ok 'Mione?" Ron asked, feeling her forehead.

Hermione managed a weak smile,

"Yeah, I'm alright, just a bit tired is all." The boys bought the lie easily. _'And these are the guys who led the army against Voldemort?' _Hermione thought to herself. She looked to Ginny to share her thoughts on the boys' stupidity, but Ginny was completely absorbed in Harry. Again. Honestly, their relationship was over and restarted more times than a 60's rock band. Hermione rolled her eyes and was about to comment on a paper that Snape had assigned when Alexander walked through the great hall doors, alone. He looked around the great hall and stopped his gaze at Hermione. They held each other's gaze for a moment, then he quickly broke it away and sat at the other end of the Ravenclaw table, far from Hermione. Hermione felt all the blood in her face drain. She felt like such an idiot.

"You know what, I'm gonna head back up to my dorm to get some more sleep, it being Sunday and all." Hermione said, standing up quickly, causing Ron to spill orange juice on his knee. "Oh sorry, Ron. Here." She waved her wand and the juice flew back into his cup, leaving his pants stainless. Before he could thank her, she was gone through the great hall doors.

"What was that all about?" Harry asked, "And please tell me you're not going to drink that, mate."

"Why not? It's not like it was on the floor or something." Ron said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Not that you wouldn't still drink it if it had been." Ginny said, still looking out the Great Hall doors at the point where Hermione had vanished from her view.

The guys laughed and started discussing a game of wizarding chess they were in the process of playing. Ginny glanced over at the Ravenclaw table and saw Alexander, who quickly looked away from the red head and became very interested in his oatmeal. Ginny sighed sadly and left the boys to find Hermione.

Hermione was walking slowly back up the stairs to her dorm room when she heard a familiar voice. Peaking around the corner, she saw Sam. She was about to hide when she heard her name,

"And then Granger, the loony, sends me this love note first thing this morning basically asking me to marry her, when I've only met the girl the night before!" Sam's story was met with the laughter of several friends of his. Hermione sank into an alcove, behind a suit of armor and felt the last of her strength eroding. She forced herself to tune out the hurtful things Sam was saying, and once he was out of earshot, Hermione tore through the corridors to the head's dorm and shot through the portrait hole.

She had barely made it into the room when she burst out into sobs.

'_I can't believe I was that stupid! He has every right to think I'm crazy! I am crazy! He was probably only hitting on me to be nice! Stupid stupid stupid!' _she thought to herself as she curled into a ball right beside the door, her face in her hands. She didn't know how long she had been crying when she heard,

"Hermione?" slowly, she looked up, tears blurring her vision. But she had seen the figure in front her of plenty of times to know who it was. With the sun coming in from the window behind him, casting a glow around his blonde hair, he looked like an angel coming to comfort her.

Draco squatted on the floor in front of Hermione and gently petted her hair.

"Hermione, love, what's wrong? Please tell me." Hermione simply shook her head and tried to curl up further into a ball. Draco took her in his arms and carried her to the couch. He wrapped his arms around her shaking frame and whispered soothing words into her ear.

"Did Sam do this to you?" he asked gently, brushing hair behind her ear. She nodded and burst out into more sobs.

"H-he, h-he …" Hermione choked out in between sobs.

"Shhh its ok, you don't have to tell me. I'm sorry, I should have warned you that he was up to no good, he's a first rate douche bag. But don't worry, he'll get what's coming to him. Just relax love." Draco said as he brought Hermione closer to him.

Hermione eventually calmed down and sat up, rubbing her eyes and making her mascara smear.

"Thank you, Draco." She said, sniffing, "I don't know what came over me, I just…"

Draco smiled,

"Don't worry about it, happens to the best of us."

"I've never even seen you tear up before though." Hermione said. Draco laughed,

"That's because I'm a man." He winked. Hermione laughed, despite herself,

"Or you just hide it well." She smiled.

'_Apparently very well.' _Draco thought to himself, remembering his uncharacteristic morning. Hermione was staring into his eyes, but in a different way than usual. She was searching, he realized, for what, he hadn't a clue, but she was always a mystery to him. Suddenly, her eyes focused,

"Draco, you're eyes are all red, are you ok?" she said, inspecting his eyes.

'_Well scratch that "hiding it well" thing I guess'_ he thought to himself.

"Ok, Ok, you caught me, I smoked a joint this morning, you happy?" Draco prided himself on his ability to lie on the spot, it had saved him numerous times.

Hermione looked shocked and appalled, and Draco readied himself for a lecture, but he surprisingly didn't receive one. She only sighed and shook her head.

"Oh Draco…" she said, almost under her breath as she stood up, gave him a kiss on his forehead and made her way up to her dorm room for a very much needed nap.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! **

**sorry this one took so long ^_^' **

**i got a new computer for college and didn't have word on it yet!**

**i hope you enjoy it and thank all of you who have favorited this or whatever, seriously, it makes my day :) **

**love you guys!**

**please R&R!**

**:D**

The next day was Friday. And although Hermione normally looked down upon people who cut class, she decided after 6 years of perfect attendance, one day of missed classes was long overdue. After all, she had hardly been able to force herself out of bed that morning, shuffling down the stairs in her sweat pants and an old quidditch t-shirt.

Not for the first time in her life, Hermione Granger didn't know the answer to the problem in front of her. But unlike every other situation that she had ever come across, she couldn't find the answer to this problem in the hallowed halls of her beloved library. There were no spells for a broken heart, no spells to make the embarrassment go away. None that were worth it anyway. So Hermione made do with the treatment that women have always turned to in times of romantic tragedy. Chocolate, preferably in ice cream form.

She was rather a sad sight to behold, and normally wouldn't chance anyone catching her in such a state, but she couldn't summon up the energy to care at the moment. So she sat on the couch, watching "Casablanca" on the black and white TV she had brought from home. It was about the 5th time she'd watched it that day and every time she ended with a fit of tears.

The credits were rolling one more time, the music softly filling the room, when there was a knock at the window. Through bleary eyes, Hermione looked up to see an owl hovering outside her window. She slowly sat up and shuffled to open the window and let the bird in. It was soon followed by two other birds. Hermione blinked away the tears in her eyes, and read the card the first owl had tied to its talon. Sniffing, she read,

"_You deserve better than what you've had. I hope this helps._

_~Your Secret Admirer_"

Hermione held the card in her hand, incredulous. '_Who the devil keeps sending me these things?' _She thought to herself.

She quickly freed the owls of their rather large burdens and let them back out the window. She opened the first box and discovered the largest red heart shaped box of chocolates she had ever seen. Hermione instantly ripped off the beautiful pink ribbon and began munching away on the expensive tasting chocolates. Still eating, she moved on to the next box. This one held a beautiful blue sundress and a matching purse. Hermione snorted. '_Like I could ever wear something like that, maybe I'll give it to Ginny' _she thought. Putting the dress to the side for later, she moved onto the final box. Opening it, she found a single leaf. Puzzled, she reached inside and picked the green plant up. She examined it carefully, but found nothing spectacular about it. She sighed and let it fall on the floor, but the instant it hit the floor, it transfigured into a beautiful weeping willow filled with song birds.

Hermione stood, bewildered at the sight in front of her. _'Well that rules out Ron…' _She reached out to touch the tree and glitter seemed to dance on an unfelt breeze off of the tree. Hermione had hardly ever seen anything as beautiful. She gently lifted a branch and breathed in the fragrance of the tree. She let the branch fall and watched the golden dust drift from the leaves onto her clothes. Hermione then looked at her clothes. She looked up in the mirror above the fireplace and into the reflection of herself. She didn't see the beautiful, confident girl of only a few days ago. Instead she saw a broken, sad girl, with baggy clothes, red eyes, and hair thrown into a pony tail.

Hermione watched her reflection as a single tear slid down her check, continuing down her neck until it absorbed into her t-shirt. Grabbing her pillow from the couch, Hermione ran up the stairs to her room and hopefully find some peace in sleep.

Draco, however, was having a considerably better day. He started it off with yelling at some Gryffindor first years and scaring them halfway to death. He was feeling pretty good about himself, arm in arm with Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle close behind, when he heard a familiar voice.

"I know! That's what I thought too!" came from around the corner. Draco immediately stopped walking, the evil cogs in his mind turning.

"What say we have a little fun with some Ravenclaws?" He whispered. Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle returned his smirk and turned around the corner. Draco quickly scoped out Sam, the voice that had stopped him before. Casting a silent tripping spell, Draco stepped into the line of fire. Sam clumsily tripped right into Draco, who was wearing his best "I'm going to kill you" face. Sam quickly brushed Draco off,

"Oh man, sorry bout that mate, bit clumsy you know, heh" Sam said nervously, eyeing the gorillas that stood behind Draco. Draco narrowed his eyes,

"Watch where you're going you idiot!" Draco spat. Pansy, beside him, giggled. Sam quickly looked at Pansy and gave her a small smile, to with which she responded with a wag of her finger.

"Oh silly boy." She teased. Sam looked back at Draco to see him fuming.

"Lemme get this straight, you practically tackle me and cause me bodily harm, and then you try and make a move with my girl?" Draco said, playing with his wand. All the blood in Sam's face drained.

Draco grabbed him by the collar, and brought his face inches away from his own,

"I don't like guys who mess with my girls." Draco whispered. Sam only had a moment to process the fact that Draco had said girls, instead of girl, before he was suddenly high above the ground and in great pain. He looked down at the students passing by beneath him; they were starting to stop and point up at him and laugh. Sam was suddenly the victim of the worst wedgies imaginable and the whole school was witnessing it. To make matters worse, he could feel the fabric in his pants slowly ripping at the seams.

"Oooooo that was great Drakey!" Pansy cooed as she hung off of Draco. He smirked as the four walked away from the scene.

"Well I had to teach the twit some manners, didn't I?" he smirked. The four laughed and made their way to the great hall for lunch.

After only a moment of eating, a Ravenclaw prefect ran into the hall and dragged Professor Flitwick out into the entryway. There was soon a chorus of screams followed by a loud applause.

"I guess McMullan couldn't keep his pants on." Draco smirked. The three around him laughed, and continued eating. Draco turned to see out the great hall door and saw Professor Flitwick charming Sam's pants back together, but his face was burning red all the same.

A wave of students suddenly filled the hall, along with excited buzz of fresh gossip.

"Oh my god, it was so scary!"

"-totally fell-"

"-Flitwick did this weird charm!"

"and totally saved him!"

"Oh my god! He has a small dick!"

'_Music to my ears'_ Draco thought to himself, _'Teach him to mess with Hermione…and Pansy.'_ It suddenly occurred to Draco that he had attacked under protective feelings for Hermione. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about that. He did know, however, that Sam won't be hurting any other girls anytime soon.

"I'm gonna go check the owlry real fast; I'll catch up with you guys later." He said, standing up.

He made his way quickly down the corridors and up the winding staircases until he made it to the owlry tower. He wrote a quick note and was watching the owls fly when his thoughts were broken.

"What are you doing up here, Malfoy?" Harry said, Ginny in tow.

Draco narrowed his eyes,

"Leaving, now that you two have stunk the place up." He spat as he passed the couple. Were they a couple? Draco had no idea; maybe he could ask Hermione…?

Draco shut the portrait closed quietly and stepped into the common room. He was met by a weeping willow and stared, curious. A door shut upstairs, and a very tired looking Hermione appeared at the bottom of the steps. When she saw him, she jumped back and started to run back up the stairs.

Not really knowing why, Draco lunged forward and grabbed onto her arm,

"Hey hey, where do you think you're going?" he teased.

"Just let me go, Draco!" she sniffed. She had been crying again, Draco could tell. He didn't' loosen his grip on her.

"Come on, I have an idea." He whispered, and led her upstairs to the bathroom. She looked at him suspiciously, but followed him.

When they reached the bathroom, he reached to Hermione's hook and handed her her fluffy bath robe and pointed at the separate room for the toilet. She raised an eyebrow at him, but he smiled and said,

"Just trust me."

She slowly made her way to the bathroom as he filled a basin with water and conjured up a reclined spa chair. Hermione slowly immerged and approached Draco.

"I'm not taking a bath with you, if that's what you're trying." She said.

Draco rolled his eyes,

"Just sit down and relax, 'Mione."

She reluctantly sat down and lay back in the chair.

"So what are you doing then?" She asked, her eyes watching him above her.

"I'm washing your hair." She gave him a weird look, and he laughed, "whenever I was little and upset, my mom would wash my hair and massage my head and just make me relax, just trust me."

Hermione was skeptical, but she gave in and closed her eyes. Draco slowly lowered her long brown hair into the warm water basin he had ready. He slowly began massaging her head and letting the warm water soothe her heart. He quietly talked with her and he could tell she was enjoying it. He shampooed her hair and soon the entire room was filled with the sweet smell.

Hermione took a deep breath in and sighed happily, her feet lazily dipping into the pool at their feet. She soon began humming quietly and Draco was transfixed by her beauty.

Never before had she looked so beautiful. Stripped of all makeup, any distracting accessories, just, simply happy Hermione. Draco felt his heart flutter and quickly caught himself. He wasn't supposed to feel this way. But try as he may, he couldn't bring himself to look away from the beauty in front of him. He rinsed her hair of the shampoo and she sat up, smiling.

"You were right, that was really nice." The warm water had caused her face to flush, or was it something else? She stood up from the chair and gave Draco a peck on the cheek before retiring to her own bedroom.

Draco sat still, lost in thought for a while, before he got up and cleaned up the room. After a while, he headed back downstairs to stare in wonder at the tree in their common room. He was soon joined by a much happier looking Hermione. When she saw the tree though, her face changed momentarily.

"So what's up with the tree?" Draco ventured.

"I dunno, someone sent it to me…" Hermione muttered, pretending to examine a book.

"But why a willow? Is it your favorite?" Draco asked, sitting on the opposite end of the couch than Hermione. She shook her head,

"I don't know about that, but it's definitely the one I feel the most connected to." She said, staring off into space.

"Oh yeah?" Draco asked, but she didn't hear him, she was a thousand miles away in her own little galaxy. Draco chuckled and went to fetch something from his room.

He returned a moment later, with a bottle and two cups in tow. Hermione looked up at him,

"Draco! You know you're not allowed to have alcohol at school! You could get in trouble!" she scolded.

Draco smirked,

"Well, do me a favor? Don't tell the head boy and girl alright?" Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I hope you don't expect me to drink any do you?" She asked, as he poured two cups.

"Ha! This is firewiskey, little girl. I don't think a muggle born could handle it!" Draco looked at her over the rim of his glass as he shot back his drink. Hermione narrowed her eyes.

"Nah, you definitely couldn't. " Draco teased.

Hermione was fully aware he was egging her on, and that he really wanted her to drink, and that she should ignore his taunting, but Hermione Granger doesn't back down from a challenge like that.

She grabbed the bottle out of Draco's hands and took a huge gulp of it, wiping her mouth as the bottle left her lips. Her eyes shown with adrenaline as she stared at Draco challengingly, he smirked and drank two more shots.

One hour and many shots later, the respectable head boy and girl of Hogwarts were completely wasted.

"You…..you are a prick!" Hermione slurred as she took another shot.

"I may be *burp* a prick, but you loooooove it 'Mione…" Draco slurred back, staggering.

"All..all of this shit…I don't know where…..who sent this!" Hermione said, staring at the willow tree. Draco staggered over to her, laughing,

"I did! You…..you you like willows right? Here you go!" The two fell over laughing.

"Such a dumb tree!" Draco laughed. Hermione began laughing but stopped, looking at Draco.

"NO! No…it's beautiful!*hic* its, it's like an angel! *hic*Or or or or like Mother Willow! In Pocahontas!" Hermione said,"Yea….Pocahontas…."

"What the FUCK are you talkin about Granger?" Draco said from inside of one of the boxes Hermione was sent.

"Ahhhhhh you're a, you're a wizard! Never see…POCAHONTAS!" Hermione said triumphantly. "Move over." She said as she sat on Draco's lap in the box, which was now beginning to fall apart. The two laughed at nothing at all.

Hermione knew she was drunk. But it felt so good, she didn't care, and she was sitting on Draco's lap. His nice lap….with his hard muscles. She put her hand on his hard chest and giggled, Draco grinned and their eyes met.

Storm clouds met amber and lightning struck. Their lips were suddenly, desperately mashed against one another's, tongues tasting all they could. The cardboard box finally broke, but that only gave the couple more access. Draco laid fully back as Hermione laid on top of him, her hands on his chest and tangled in his hair. Draco's hands were on Hermione's ass and one was moving upwards, trying to unhook her bra. Hermione giggled at Draco's drunken frustration and took off her shirt. Draco began kissing her neck and teasing her nipple through her bra as Hermione slowly slid her hand down Draco's pants. When her hand reached its destination and started, Draco almost lost it.

He quickly flipped them over so that he was on top and had full access to Hermione's body. He had started making his way down to Hermione's nearly exposed nipple when he realized she had stopped all movement.

He quickly looked up at her face to see her sound asleep. Draco cursed his luck and kissed her once more on the lips. Looking around, he decided to bring her upstairs to a bed, but as soon as he stood up, he realized that wasn't a possibility. He very slowly and clumsily carried her the 3 feet to the couch and laid her down. He looked up at the tree in front of him and said,

"Freaking…willow…." Before he passed out beside Hermione.


	9. Chapter 9

**hey everyone!**

**i'm so so so so sorry for taking so long with this chapter, i've been out of town a lot and also dealing with some issues that i deffinitly plan**

**on using as inspiration for "the other woman"! So alls well that ends well, right? haha **

**and don't worry, i know this chapter is super short, but i had to end this chapter this way, but i'm going to post the next one NO LATER THAN tomorrow**

**night! :D **

**and oh my gosh thanks so much for all the favoriting and such, i know i say this a lot but it makes me so happy!**

**so please read and enjoy and R&R! **

**:D**

Hermione was cold. She also had a headache the likes of which she had never experienced before. She slowly opened her eyes to see…nothing? Everything was a single color…was she blind? As her brain slowly awoke, she realized that she was very close to something, something that smelled rather good, and also very familiar. She moved her neck the little amount that she could to see Draco's sleeping face resting above her own. The drowsy grin melted off of Hermione's face and her heart began beating faster, what the hell happened last night! She could remember him washing her hair **'**_that was nice…'´_she thought, _'CONCENTRATE, GIRL!' _Try as she may, Hermione could not remember much after that, only the firewiskey and Draco.

Dread filled Hermione faster than the firewiskey had the previous night. She wanted to run up the stairs to her room and stay there until she figured out a spell to turn back time. She wished for the thousandth time that she hadn't forgot her time-turner on her dresser before coming back to Hogwarts for the term.

It was about this time that she realized exactly why her back was cold. It was also in this instant that Hermione recognized the odd piece of cloth in a heap on the ground in front of the fireplace Hermione could feel her cheeks turning red and tried to cover her nearly bare torso as best she could. Unfortunately, a strong arm had her pinned up against the body in front of her. Draco had her completely trapped against his body and was still fast asleep, a goofy grin on his face, his hair slightly falling over his eyes.

Hermione's heart melted momentarily, as it always did in moments such as this. Gone was Draco's usual cocky grin, his eyes that were usually filled with doubt and fear, were masked by his pale eyelids. But just as always, he woke up and his innocence was hidden again, at least for the day.

Draco looked down at Hermione and grinned,

"Good morning beautiful." He said, kissing Hermione's forehead. She remained silent. Sensing something was wrong, Draco pulled back to see Hermione's face better.

"Hermioneeeee." Draco cooed, "Come on, you know I can make you talk." Hermione's eyes suddenly widened slightly, before regaining her composure.

"You wouldn't." She muttered.

"Oh, I don't know, as long as I'm properly motivated, and at the moment, nothing sounds more motivating than hearing your sweet voice." Draco grinned.

Hermione narrowed her eyes as he rested his forehead against hers. Draco sighed,

"Oh well, here goes nothing!"

Grinning, Draco slowly brought his hand down to Hermione's side, gently stroking in circles,

"One last chance…" Draco whispered in Hermione's ear. Hermione remained resolute, clenching her jaw and looking away as far as she could.

"Alright, you've left me with no choice." Draco brought his had a bit higher on Hermione's side and stopped right where he knew he could affect her. Draco looked into Hermione's eyes and grinned his devilish grin and began tickling her.

For a moment, Hermione's face remained stolid, but Draco knew her well enough she couldn't keep up staying silent for long, he could already see her defenses cracking. Even so, he decided to bring it up a notch and started tickling her neck as well. Within seconds, Hermione was laughing hysterically, almost in tears, begging,

"Ok, ok! Draco! Stop! I'll talk! I'll talk!" she managed between gasps. Finally, to Hermione's relief, Draco stopped tickling her, yet left his hands where they were.

"Now, tell me what's wrong." He said, suddenly serious. Hermione sighed,

"Well, it's just that, I don't know how much longer I can stand this. If something happens between us, I want it to be real, and preferably, I would like to remember it."

Draco thought for a moment,

"Do you think something happened last night?"

"Well…yea, I mean, look at the evidence Draco." Hermione muttered, Draco chuckled.

"Hermione, nothing really happened! I mean, yes, some stuff happened, but we didn't do it, but it's not like that's all that's important to me, but-" Hermione cut Draco off, holding a finger to his lips.

"Why are you so flustered?" She asked, trying to see clues on his face.

Mentally, Draco was reliving everything that had happened the previous day, the protective fury he had felt when he saw Sam, his panic at seeing Hermione upset, the calm that overwhelmed him when she finally stopped crying, the image of her beautiful face as he shampooed her hair, and yes, even the stupid, giddy laughing from when she was drunk. Draco could no longer deny it to himself; he was deeply, irrevocably in love with Hermione Granger.

She was still waiting for his answer when his thoughts cleared, two words were the only things left in his mind, and he acted on them. The words were simple, but held more power than any spell Draco could ever learn, those two little words.

Kiss her.


	10. Chapter 10

h**ey again!**

**ahh i couldn't wait! **

**so i here you go! :D**

**R&R!**

Draco Malfoy wasn't completely sure what he was doing. Not that he didn't know his way around a woman, just that he didn't expect to be with this particular woman at this current moment in time. All Draco knew was that he felt things for this girl more than any other he had ever known.

Draco Malfoy was lying in bed with Hermione Granger. But unlike the others who had been privileged enough to witness the sleeping chambers of the Slytherin Prince, they weren't having sex. They were talking, a concept somewhat foreign to Draco, but he was learning to like it.

After Draco had kissed Hermione on the couch just that morning, he felt as if the planets shifted, as if a star that had been previously blocked was suddenly shining bright and lighting up his world, warming him and keeping the shadows away. Draco was in love, he knew it as soon as he kissed her again, gently cupping her face in his hands and bringing his lips to hers. It was a single kiss, but more than often, it's those kinds of kisses that hold more impact than any amount of making out could ever hold.

Draco slowly brought his head back to look at Hermione, who was full of surprise, but also, something was burning bright in her eyes, a warmth that most people only read about, and in that instant, Draco knew that Hermione was the star, his star, that had been blocked by the planets until they moved, unveiling the beauty that was she.

"Draco, I…" She started, her voice soft and sweet, '_like the wind after a storm'_, Draco thought to himself.

"Hermione, I love you. I could never hurt you, I could never leave you, and it would kill me to see you go."

Hermione sat up, grabbed her shirt off the floor and grabbed Draco's hand, leading them up to his bedroom. Draco's mind was whirling, _'She's going to forgive me that easily?'_ he thought.

But Hermione surprised him; she simply sat on his bed and patted the spot beside her. He sat down slowly, unsure of her intentions, he was about to say something when she said,

"Stop. No, we're not having sex, so get that out of your mind right now. And yes, I do still love you. But I'm not ready to have sex with you, you have to understand. Even after all those wonderful things you said, I still have to sort through everything that has happened lately, I have to be ready, but I want you to know, that I do love you."

Draco sat, awestruck for a moment,

"So what do you…?" he began

"I want to start over." She replied. He gave her a look.

"I don't want to rush into this, if this is going to work, I have to trust you completely, and if I have any doubts in my mind that you're going to leave me for Pansy, it won't work." Draco nodded.

A wave of relief washed over Hermione as she hugged Draco, she breathed in his scent and soaked up his warmth as much as she could before breaking away to begin again.

After about 3 hours of talking and laughing, the two decided it was time to take care of some business and finally get dressed for the day. So after quick showers, the two headed down to the Great Hall for lunch, parting ways once they entered the hall.

Hermione made a beeline for Ginny, who was eating a salad while reading a book on charms. Hermione plopped down beside her, not saying a word, but grabbing an orange and a cup of water. Even though she was trying to remain calm, Hermione knew that she looked excited, and as soon as Ginny looked up from her book, Ginny knew as well.

"Ok. Spill. Now." Ginny said, closing her book.

Hermione couldn't stop grinning like a fool; she began picking at her orange.

"Well, something kinda happened…"

"Something involving….a boy?" Hermione felt herself blush, "Oh my god, who is it? Do I know him? Is he a Gryffindor? Come on girl, spill!"

"Well, you do know who they are, but he's not a Gryffindor…" Hermione said quietly, peeling her orange.

Ginny froze.

"Wait a second, this better not be who I think it is." Hermione didn't say a word.

"Hermione! Don't tell me you're back with," Ginny paused and checked to make sure no one was listening before she whispered, "Malfoy!"

Hermione had been excited to tell her best friend about her renewed relationship, but now she wasn't so sure.

"It's going to be different this time, I can tell." Hermione said. Ginny just sighed and gave Hermione a look that showed that she didn't think it was a good idea at all.

Hermione had been on cloud nine, and now she was suddenly plummeting towards earth, doubting whether or not her relationship with Draco had any real merit. Sighing, she ate her orange in silence.

Draco was feeling amazing, never before had a girl made him feel so alive without having sex. He felt as if he could defeat the every monster in the forbidden forest blind folded, nothing could bring him down, or so he thought. Draco was making his way to the Slytherin table to talk to Pansy, but she wasn't there. He had discussed it with Hermione and they both had decided that he should talk to Pansy about their relationship and try and convince her to "take a break". After all, Slytherin's were expected to hook up with many people, so being in an exclusive relationship, such as they were, was unheard of. Though they had maintained the strictness that their parents had expected them to when it came to their relationship, _'until recently…' _Draco thought, they couldn't' be expected to date one single person their entire life! Surely their parents would understand that!

So, with the confidence that Pansy would agree with Draco, he strode back to the Slytherin common room to seek her out. Upon arriving, Draco found that the room was very sparsely populated, but was able to ask a passing 6th year if she had seen Pansy. The girl smirked at Draco, _'Probably trying to flirt, poor thing' _he thought, and she said,

"I think I saw her head up to her room a bit ago, why don't you check there?" Draco nodded curtly and headed up the stairs to Pansy's room. He knocked once on the door and entered.

"Pans?" He called.

There was a quick shuffling of fabric and Pansy appeared from behind her bed curtain. She was wearing seemingly nothing, as she was holding a sheet around her body, exposing only her pale shoulders and up. Draco was immediately suspicious.

"Why are you naked, Pansy?" He stated firmly. He watched as she squirmed, trying to form a lie in her mind.

"I was waiting for you, Drakey…" She finally responded, drawing out his name and twisting a lock of hair with her free hand. Draco smirked and sauntered over to Pansy.

"Were you now?" he whispered. She nodded and traced his jaw line with her fingers, grinning. Draco grinned back, looking into her dark eyes before ripping the curtain off her bed frame to reveal a Slytherin Draco had never seen before.

He was definitely younger than Draco, and very much smaller than him. The poor boy almost shook with fright at the sight of Draco Malfoy looming over him with hellfire in his eyes.

"Pansy….who the FUCK is this?" Draco spat, catching the boy as he tried to escape. "_**Petrificus Totalus**_**!" **The boy fell to the floor, helpless. Draco cast his eyes upon Pansy. She wasn't going to respond.

"Well fine, have more fun with him, but we're over. Have fun explaining to your parents what a whore you are and the reason why you won't inherit a single Knut out of the Malfoy family." And with that, Draco turned around and stormed down the stairs and out of the Slytherin common room.

Hermione was sitting on the couch, drinking a cup of tea and reading a new book she had picked up at the library when the portrait door slammed shut. Hermione immediately sat up, not sure what to expect, but ready nonetheless. Draco stormed into the room, clearly upset.

"Draco?" She ventured, watching as Draco paced back in forth across the common room.

"What happened, Draco?"

Draco turned, and looked at Hermione, stopping his pacing. He took a deep breath and chuckled,

"I broke up with her…" he smiled. Hermione's eyes grew huge as she leapt towards Draco, hugging him tight, happier than she had even been that morning.

Draco began laughing and twirled Hermione around in his arms. They stared at each other, taking in every contour of the other's face, and they kissed, a deep kiss that sent electricity through each of their bodies. They broke apart momentarily and Draco pinned Hermione against the wall, her hands above her head, her mouth smiling, before he dove back in and kissed everywhere he could.

Hermione couldn't contain her joy, she giggled and arched into Draco's body, who responded by bringing her even closer to him, and holding her there.  
The two were like the ocean, constantly breaking new waves, each more exhilarating than the last, each swell bringing up new life and curiosities. And with a new wave, Draco took Hermione's hand, and led them upstairs to the bedroom.


	11. Update coming soon!

**Long time no see!**

**Long story short, I've been an awful author and haven't updated in a shamefully long time.**

**BUT, there will (finally) be an update before the end of the week!**

**So look out for that! **

**3**

**JadeElephant**


	12. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone! **

**Here's the update, as promised! **

**And depending on the response I get from this one, I'll post another before this weekend!**

**Please R&R and enjoy!**

**(None of the characters or settings are mine, as much as I'd love to own Draco Malfoy and do dirty things to him...)**

***cough***

**ENJOY!**

**:)**

* * *

Draco Malfoy woke from the best nights' sleep that he had ever had. The warm body pressed against him ignited happiness to his core and the sight of the curly brown hair on his chest made his heart soar.

'_Why didn't I do this sooner?' _he thought to himself.

He gently brushed a lock of hair from Hermione's face behind her ear and just sat and soaked in the view of the girl he loved breathing slowly and murmuring in her sleep.

The night before had been quite a shock to Draco, and not at all what he was expecting when the head girl led him up the stairway after a passionate kiss, well multiple kisses to be honest. The brunette scholar had slinked onto his bed and pulled the Slytherin on top of her, gliding her hands along his muscular body. She bit her lip slightly and the only thing in her eyes was pure lust.

Draco almost exploded then and there.

However, he was a Malfoy after all, and he regained his composure after a less than respectable amount of time. A fact that was not missed by Hermione. She smirked and pulled his body even closer to hers so that there was almost no horizon between their skins. Draco was sporting a huge erection and after a quick inspection with his fingers around her core, found that he was not alone in his attraction. Hermione's panties were all but soaked through.

"Draco…" Hermione whimpered softly as Draco went to work on getting rid of the pesky obstacle that was the girl's clothes.

"Mmmhmmm?" He asked, stumbling over her buttons. What was going on? He was always cool and smooth in these situations, why were his hands shaking more than the Weasels during a quidditch match?

"Draco. Stop." Hermione slowly sat up and took Draco's hands in her own. Confusion and rejection shown across the head boy's face.

"What's wrong? Did I hurt you? Was I going too fast? Do you want to be on top? Because that's more than fine, that's actually really hot and-" Draco spilled out, trying desperately to save the moment. But Hermione's finger over his lips cut him off.

"Shh, no it's not that. It's just that, as much as my body wants this, as much as my hormones are screaming to have you inside of me, I can't do this. Not yet." She whispered.

Draco's shoulders slumped and his spirit (among other things) deflated.

"Oh."

"Please don't be upset, it's just like I said, we need to start over. And that means rebuilding trust, which isn't easy." Hermione explained.

'_Bloody hell this woman will be the death of me'_ Draco thought for not the first time.

He sighed but obliged, after all, a woman as amazing as this one was worth the wait.

"So what now?" Draco asked.

"Well, we need to define this relationship I guess." Hermione said and punched Draco lightly as he groaned. "It's important!"

Draco dreaded the "DTR" talk more than anything, but maybe that was because most of the times he'd had it, it was from a confused girl who thought them to be more than just fuck buddies. Draco sighed as the memories of the countless naïve girls.

"Well, I was under the impression that we were going to start dating. Like a girlfriend-boyfriend type deal." Draco said simply.

Hermione thought about this notion for a moment, true it was what she wanted in the long run, but was she ready for that step? Hell, was he ready for that step? What would his family say? Or Pansy? Or everyone in the school for that matter!

As she was debating these questions, Draco was slowly moving his hand from her bare knee up toward her core, maintaining eye contact all the while. He began to get more and more excited as his fingers reached the lace trim of her panties and he began to slip one digit underneath when she slapped his hand away in irritation, still in deep thought. Draco pouted and crossed his arms, waiting for the bushy haired beauty to formulate an answer. Still, his thoughts kept drifting back to the rather empty space between her legs and how he would love so very much to fill it.

"You need to court me." Hermione finally stated, snapping Draco back into reality with surprising force.

"Come again, love?" Draco asked, all attention now on her face.

"Well, this whole 'relationship' between us has been in secret. Mostly just acts of passion and physicality. Yes, there have been other moments, but what kind of girl do you take me for? How am I supposed to know that you don't just want to hook up? No way. That's not going to fly, you want this milk, you gotta pay for the cow, big boy." Hermione said with a satisfied smirk.

Draco's face was a completely blank slate.

"Ok, what now?" He asked again. Hermione sighed.

'_Honestly, the guy's probably never had to say more than a couple words to a girl to get her in bed with him. This should be interesting.' _She thought.

"You have to show me that I'm not just the 'ass you're tapping'. You have to **court **me. Then, you can ask me out, and then we can go out, and then we will become boyfriend and girlfriend, and THEN we may have sex. Considering everything goes as planned." She smiled.

The color drained from Draco's face.

"But….but that could take months! I've never waited that long to sleep with a girl! I don't...I can't….are you sure?" He blubbered.

Hermione giggled and nodded.

"If you want me, you have to earn me." And with that, the Gryffindor buttoned her shirt back up and cuddled into Draco and said, "Goodnight Draco."

Draco lay, awestruck.

'_What exactly just happened? If she expects me to wait more than a week to bed her…she's got another thing coming.'_

But in that moment, he looked down at the figure curled up beside him, and knew that he would wait years if that's what it took to make this girl happy.

Smiling, Draco gently shifted and fell asleep with the girl he loved.


	13. Chapter 12

**Hey guys!**

**I was going to add more, but the idea for this chapter came to me and I wanted to share it right away!**

**Sorry for the length, but they'll be more to come soon! **

**(Again I own no characters, settings, etc from J.K. Rowling's world)**

**as always, please please please read and review!  
3 **

* * *

Hermione awoke the next morning with a start. She'd been having an awful dream.

_She was in some sort of chamber, though it was hard to tell the size, the walls seemed to be made of a billowing blackish green fabric that seemed to whisper. Even though she couldn't make out any words, she knew that the silky material was some sort of dark magic and she should stay as far away as possible._

"_Hello?" She called out, to no response. The whispers grew somewhat louder. _

"_Is anyone there?" She asked into the nothingness. Again, no response but the increase in volume from the voices. She was starting to get scared, the whispers were not stopping, they were getting louder, and seemingly angrier. _

_Hermione felt incredibly exposed and trapped. In that moment, the silky walls began to shrink around her, expelling the air through an opening high above her, suffocating her. Hermione felt for her wand but found that she didn't have it. She looked down at herself and saw for the first time that she was wearing a thin shift of a dress and her wrists and ankles were bound. _

_Panicking, she began screaming for help. _

"_Please, if there's anyone up there, please help me!" She pleaded, peering into the blinding light far above her head. _

_The whispering voices began to grow maniacal and the fabric was now skirting across the edges of her dress. Where they touched, they left scorch marks, and the marks began to grow up her dress, like cotton soaking up water. Hermione panicked and hit the marks, trying to stop their advancement towards her body, but found that contact with the strange marks burned her skin and left the acrid smell of burnt skin in the air. _

_Hermione began screaming louder and louder, pleading with anyone who could possibly hear her. She stayed absolutely still while looking up into the opening, praying that someone would help her. _

_Suddenly, a silhouette of a head emerged high above her._

"_Oh thank God! Please! Please help me!" She pleaded. _

_But the head only laughed and was soon joined by two other heads, who also laughed in such a way that made Hermione's skin crawl. Or was there another reason her skin crawled? She looked back down at her body to see that her dress was all but destroyed and gone, leaving Hermione completely exposed, trapped and at the mercy of the strangle fabrics. _

_The sounds of the evil laughter filled the chamber as the fabric slowly turned transparent and behind the veiled walls sat an audience of Death Eaters, enjoying the show at Hermione's expense. _

Hermione screamed and jolted awake, immediately feeling her body and found relief in cotton shorts and a t-shirt.

Calming back down and realizing it was just a dream, Hermione sat up, head in hands and realized Draco was missing.

A flush from the bathroom answered her question and Draco came into Hermione's view while washing his hands. He was still oblivious to the fact that Hermione was awake and was simply focused on washing his hands. Hermione observed the peaceful smile on his face, and the ease of his normally tense shoulders, and was he humming? Was he so happy because of last night? Or was this just a candid moment that Draco Malfoy reserved for himself?

Though not entirely sure why, Hermione quickly lay back down while Draco reached for a towel to dry his hands and she pretended to still be asleep. Draco quietly reentered the room and gently slipped back into the bed beside her. Hermione could tell he was watching her, and was soon proven right by Draco pulling a blanket up higher to shield her from the chill the castle always brought in the morning.

Hermione began to panic, though all signs were merely internal, nothing that would bring concern to Draco's attention.

Did she make a mistake? Should she have refused his love? Could she trust him? Could she ever really trust him? What was going to happen now?

A million similar questions raced through Hermione's head while Draco simply laced an arm around her shoulders and waited for her to wake up, humming softly.

So when she did finally stir, a plan at least somewhat in motion in her head, Hermione faked a drowsy awakening and smiled at Draco lazily, a gesture he returned whole heartedly.

"Good morning gorgeous." He beamed.

"Good morning" She answered, kissing him lightly on the cheek. Hermione began to slip out of bed when Draco caught her around the waist.

"And where do you think you're going, little minx?" He cooed into the crook of her neck.

Hermione stifled a giggle and gently slipped out of his grasp,

"I told Professor McGonagall that I would bring her my patrol forms first thing this morning." She explained, "But I'll be back later, don't worry. Until then, finish your charms essay, I know you didn't finish it like you said you did."

Draco scowled, "Fine, but I'll have you to myself later, right?"

Though she was unsure of her ultimate path regarding the head boy, she couldn't deny the effect those storm cloud grey eyes had on her. A slight shiver ran up her spine as she nodded a smile and headed into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Once she was finally out of the grasp of her roommate, Hermione made her way to Professor McGonagall's office, and walked right past it to her real destination.


	14. Chapter 13

**Hey everyone!**

**I know it's been forever, and I know this is short, but I've written and rewritten **

**this chapter so many times, in a hundred different ways**

**but I'm never happy with it! **

**I'm definitely suffering from writers block and**

**am doing all I can do get around it!**

**In the mean time, here's a bit that I'm not to **

**angry about haha**

**please R&R!**

**much love!**

Hermione entered the castle kitchens and received a steaming cup of coffee from an overly zealous house elf, much to Hermione's self-guilt. She thanked the elf excessively, a courtesy that made the house elf tilt her head in confusion, like a dog that heard a far off noise.

"Tis no trouble at all miss!" she squeaked. Hermione managed a somewhat convincing smile; still seething inside that Hogwarts still enlisted the labor of house elves. However, now was hardly the time to dredge up this issues with the headmaster, she had bigger fish to fry, but she did make a mental note to work up a new platform for S.P.E.W.

Gently blowing on her coffee as she made her way down the corridor, Hermione's mind was static, but silent at the same time. Draco had hurt her very deeply, and sometimes, wounds that deep don't ever really heal, scar tissue forms and replaces what was once there, changing who you are forever. But he had chosen her, right? He was being so sweet, when he looked at her like he did, she felt like she was witnessing some powerful act of God, something amazing that words could never truly capture. Hermione was considering this when she finally came to her destination, the lake.

She was always drawn to bodies of water, and that was a definite explanation of the form her patronous took, an otter. The water calmed her, and allowed her to think without a thousand other thoughts ricocheting against the task at hand. So when she approached the shore, it was as if her soul took a sigh of relief, and eased into a meditative state upon sitting on the sand.

Hermione began to lay out the facts in front of her, yes she was sure that Draco had feelings for her, it was just the nature of said feelings that gave the young witch pause. He WAS infamous for weaving tales and lines like magic to ensnare his many sexual partners, so how was she sure it wasn't the same now? She felt horrible for thinking such a thing, but her innate logic told her it was not something to count out. Was it really possible for someone to change as drastically as he had? But that look in his eyes, there's no way he could fake that, right? Even if he couldn't, he could always deny her after he grew bored, after their escapades had been run dry. After all, there were tons of pretty girls in the school, and Draco could have the pick of them. Hermione hit herself, she was being stupid, she was an attractive, smart, funny girl who Draco would be BLESSED to have the chance with. If only she truly felt that way 100% of the time.

Hermione brought her knees up and crossed her arms over them, resting her chin on her crossed arms. She remained that way until the sun disappeared behind the mountains in the west, long after her half consumed coffee had gone cold.

**What do you think? **

**Please PLEASE PLEASE let me know! You don't know how much it helps me write! And I love getting input! (not promising I'll use it, but I always love getting it regardless!)**


End file.
